Mass Effect: The End
by XX55XX
Summary: The Collector base has been destroyed. But what next, for Commander Shepard and his companions? Can Shepard defeat the Reapers, or will the Reapers defeat him, and the rest of alienkind and humanity? Mass Effect 3 fanfic.
1. Prologue, Intermediate Aftermath

**Mass Effect: The End**

**Prologue**

The quiet hum of the Normandy resonated around him. He was asleep, but only barely. A casual peek from the doorway of the commander's quarters may reveal a soldier, engaging in some much needed rest from over-exertion and over-stimulation. However, those more cynical may be more apt to guess the exact opposite – the commander was not really at rest, they say. No vessel of solitude or any reduction in consciousness could ever truly erase nightmares, and for Commander Shepard, hero of the Galaxy, avowed nemesis of the Reapers – is clearly an example of such a sentiment.

Command Shepard rolled over, grunting in his state of half-sleep. It was difficult to sleep. Too many problems, too many worries – all of these crowded his mind like angry wasps in a hive.

The Collectors may have been defeated, but a far greater threat still lingered. The Reapers were still out there, prowling the depths of intergalactic space, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Of the trillions who inhabit the galaxy, only a select few recognize their existence and the threat that they pose. Even fewer dwell upon their origins or purpose.

Like angry wasps with their stingers at the ready, these thoughts drilled through Shepard's mind, mostly in the form of images. Over and over, his mind replayed the last moments of the assault on the Collector base. Of course, some of these images were scenes of triumph, while others were scenes of grief and despair.

The door opened, revealing the shadow of a female figure. That shadow belonged to none other than Tali'Zorah vas Neema, a young female quarian who had joined Shepard in his travels two years ago. She and the commander had forged a very close relationship over these years – and depending on one's perspective, they have developed a far closer bond than most officers and their soldiers ever will.

So close, that it would be grossly inadequate to suggest that their relationship was forged as part of the usual discourse between an officer and his subordinate. Their affinity and affection for one another easily transcends such banal characterizations.

Tali approached the Commander's bed very quietly, determined not to make any noise which may disturb the fatigued Commander. Approaching the bed from the front, she climbed upon it. With great finesse and little noise, she slipped herself in the space between Shepard's right arm and his body, laying her own arms upon his chest.

_Everything will be fine_, she thought, with an air of faint optimism. _Everything_.

Shepard's body immediately relaxed, as if her thoughts resonated upon him like spoken words.

With that, she drifted with Shepard.

**Chapter One – Intermediate Aftermath**

The next day, Shepard assembled his crew in the cargo hold. Behind him, lay two caskets.

Shepard disliked making speeches – to him, speeches were the tools of politicians, the weapons of demigods and other devious men. Speeches may inspire, but without action, they are pointless all the same. But, despite his overt hostility against the art of public speaking, Shepard nonetheless felt compelled to honor his fallen comrades – and what was a better way to honor them than to make a speech?

The crew appeared both anxious and solemn. Mordin Solus was rubbing his chin in apprehension. Dr. Chakwas starred upon the ground. Kelly Chambers bit upon one of her fingernails.

Shepard cleared his throat. "Crew, despite our success in wiping out the Collector base, we still lost, in a way."

"Two in our number lost their lives a few days ago. Some other commanders may be delighted at the surprisingly low loss. But to me, two losses remains two losses too many. We have lost far more than mere manpower – we have lost two friends, two allies, and two people who fully appreciated the threat that the entire galaxy faces."

"Samara," continued Shepard, motioning to one of the caskets, "lost her life while holding the line against the Collectors. At great personal peril, she insisted that she stay behind to draw off the Collectors' fire while the rest of the team retreated back to the Normandy. As soon as everyone else was out of the Collectors' range, she retreated as well, but was shot several times in the back. Fortunately, Grunt was able to retrieve her body."

Grunt grunted in appreciation of Shepard's mention of his name.

Motioning to the other casket, Shepard continued his speech. "Jack was with me in the confrontation against the Human-Reaper. When twenty Collectors tried to swarm us, Jack kept them from overrunning our position with her biotics. Unfortunately, in the chaos of the collapsing base, she was struck by a column and was mortally injured as a result. While we may not have been able to retrieve her body, her restless and determined spirit lives on..."

Shepard grimaced slightly. He was running out of things to say. _Oh well_, Shepard thought. _Might as well end with a cliché_.

"Samara and Jack died so that the rest of us may live. Remember that. Remember that when you are forced to choose between your own life and the greater good. Remember that when we face the Reapers together. Remember, always."

As hackneyed these words were, they still drew applause from the crew. Shepard forced a smile upon his lips. He then turned his eyes on Tali, who was clapping enthusiastically and looking in his direction. He caught her eye for a brief moment and knew that he had done well. _Making speeches isn't so bad. I should make them more often._

_

* * *

_

"Mind making some room, Shepard?" Shepard looked up. It was Garrus Vakarian. In his hands lay a bowl of turian food paste.

"Of course, Garrus. Of course." Shepard pushed his dinner tray to the left to make room for the turian.

It was dinnertime upon the Normandy. Dinners upon the Normandy were usually solitary, anti-social affairs, in which both crew members and officers would quickly pick up prepared food from Mess Sergeant Gardner and disappear back to their posts to consume it. There was little time for dinner parties, and even less time for conversation in the mess hall.

However, this night differed from the norm. Shepard was not the only occupant of the Normandy's small mess hall this evening. Tali was seated across the table from him, arms folded upon the table. The chair left of Shepard's own was occupied by Miranda Lawson, the Cerberus operative and the Normandy's executive officer. She was enjoying a garden salad. Mordin Solus, the Normandy's chief technology officer, was seated to Tali's right, struggling with a Rubik's Cube.

"Evening, Garrus," quipped Miranda. She had just finished her salad. Turning her head around to face the Normandy's open kitchen, she yelled, "Hey, Gardner, do you still have some of that California chardonnay in the liquor cabinet? I could use some."

"Hold your thirst, Ms. Lawson. I'm trying to get these dirty plates cleaned up first." Mess Sergeant Gardner shoved a pile of plates roughly into the dishwashing machine and set the timer. Gardner was the Normandy's do-it-all handyman. While his title may suggest that he is a cook and nothing else, Gardner performs a multitude of duties completely unrelated to his title. This includes not only procuring food and preparing it, but also cleaning up after his fellow crewmen in both the mess hall – and in the bathroom, when he performs his part-time plumbing job on the ship. While his job lacks of the glamor of a soldier's role in battle, Gardner remains proud of what he does for the crew – and for Cerberus.

"Ah! Stupid human puzzle! Too confusing!" Mordin twisted and churned the Rubik's Cube, cursing beneath his breath as he did so. After a few more moments of futile struggle, the salarian tossed the cube upon the table. "Giving up," he said solemnly.

"Oh, Mordin," sighed Shepard. "Rubik's Cubes aren't the most difficult puzzles that humanity has to offer."

"Perhaps, Shepard. Perhaps." Mordin relaxed his arms and eyed Shepard. "But has humanity completely decoded the genome of another species? Or even of itself? I think not! My failure to solve a silly little pathetic puzzle like this does not represent my ability to do science!"

Realizing that he may have offended the salarian, Shepard adopted a conciliatory tone as he apologized to Mordin. "I'm terribly sorry, Mordin. I did not mean to offend you…"

But the salarian interrupted him. "No offense taken. Nature of salarians to overreact to jokes, passing insults. No apology on your part necessary."

"Give that to me!" Tali reached for the Rubik's Cube. "Mordin, this puzzle isn't very difficult to solve at all – look." She gave the Cube a few twists, and as if it were magic, the cube was restored to its original state.

Mordin started at the solved Cube, wide-eyed. "Hmm. How did you…? What the…?" He descended immediately into a muted silence in face of Tali's apparent puzzle-solving genius. _Hmm, _he thought._ Perhaps even great salarian biologists are no match for the hidden complexity of a human Rubik's Cube…_

Shepard gave an amused smile. He had always appreciated Tali's speedy intellect.

Miranda, observing the commotion from a distance, developed a sudden interest in playing with the Rubik's Cube in her boredom. "Tali, mind giving me that puzzle? Might be a good time to toy with such a thing while I wait for my wine."

"Here you go." Tali complied, sliding the cube across the table in Miranda's direction. Miranda gave off a bemused grin. "Bet I can solve this before my wine arrives."

Garrus spooned some turian food paste into his mouth and chuckled. "Ah. So that's why Tali's our main engineer on this ship. If she can solve one of these puzzles so quickly, then she must be able to fix a broken engine in even less time. It all makes sense now."

Tali blushed beneath her helmet. "Oh, Garrus, you must realize that solving one of these human puzzles can hardly be compared to fixing a space-faring vessel's engine. They require… err… different kinds of mental processing."

Shepard spooned into his potato soup. He was too exhausted for conversation, and despite his omnipresent anxiety, the banter between his crew relaxed him greatly.

Garrus stared at the quarian's fingers. "Then they must both require some quick fingers on your part, Tali. Engine consoles have hundreds of buttons on them; press the wrong combination of them, and poof! Everyone dies." The turian clasped his hands together and pulled each of them away from the other very quickly, as if to create an image of an explosion of some kind.

"Ah hah! Solved it!" Miranda exclaimed, visibly pleased by the result of the solved cube. "Dr. Solus, these puzzles are not that difficult to solve once you realize how they come together. Here, let me show you."

Mordin observed Miranda's technique, charting the movements of her both her hands and the cube. His breathing became quicker in his newfound excitement. "Ah, I see. Puzzle is simpler than I had originally thought. Brute force not necessary. Interesting… May I?"

Miranda handed the cube to Mordin. "Of course. The pleasure is your's, Dr. Solus."

"Many thanks, Ms. Lawson." Mordin took the cube and set off immediately upon solving it once and for all.

Heavy footsteps approached the table. These footsteps belonged to Zaeed Massani, the mercenary whom the Illusive Man had hired out for Shepard's mission several months before. His scarred, battle-worn face mirrored that of Shepard's fatigued and baggy eyes. Initially, Shepard had an intense dislike for Zaeed and his ways. Perhaps it comes with fighting drugged-up mercenaries all the time. But in the past few weeks, Zaeed had proven his fighting mettle, especially during the battle on the Collector base. _The guy may be a merc_, thought Shepard. _But he is one hell of a fighter_.

Zaeed groaned, and seated himself besides Tali. "Evening, everyone," he said bluntly, setting his tray on the table. He ripped open a tea packet with gusto, carelessly tossing it into his waterglass. "Hell of a funeral speech you gave today, Shepard. You know, I am going to miss that little bitch – Jack, Subject Zero, whatever the hell her name was. Damned good biotic she was. Pity we had to lose her."

Shepard nodded solemnly. "Indeed, Zaeed. But, soldiers die, and well, Jack wasn't any different. She just did her job, and out of misfortune, a pillar collapsed on her. Regrettable, but unavoidable."

"I suppose, Shepard. But at least we still have that krogan with us. Useful little bastard he is. Saw him tear through dozens of those insect things with his rifle during the last battle."

Miranda nodded curtly in Zaeed's direction. "Evening, Mr. Massani. Has the Illusive Man decided to extend your contract with us?"

Zaeed took a draught from his tea. "Yeah, he sent me a message with the new terms of my contract. Deposited money from my previous contract into the bank as well. I just signed it about ten minutes ago. Looks like I will be hanging here until those… those..." He struggled for the words.

"Reapers, you mean?" Garrus looked up from his empty bowl.

"Err, yeah. Right. Reapers. I will be here until they finally bite the dust. Illusive Man has promised me a big payday if we do it." Zaeed forked into his potato soup, picking up a potato. He began chewing upon it. He then looked at Mordin, who had his complete focus upon solving the Rubik's Cube. "What are you doing there, salarian?"

"Trying to solve puzzle according to method Ms. Lawson described. Can't talk now! Very serious business here," replied Mordin without looking up from the cube.

Zaeed huffed. "Ah, I see. Those damned puzzles. Could never solve them. Never had the patience of solving them. I prefer to shoot up gas valves instead of dealing with them, for instance."

"Which is why you nearly killed us during your mission on Zorya," chuckled Garrus darkly. "You know, your tendency to shoot at things without considering the consequences causes great trouble for us at times." In Garrus' mind, Zaeed may be a good fighter, but he required supervision – at times.

"So what, turian? At least we got that bastard Vido before he left. I know, hundreds died, but Vido was a menace. At least ten thousand more would have died had we not stopped him there and then. Listen, have you ever wanted to see a man dead before, turian? If not, I understand. Sometimes, risks need to be taken to take them down. It comes with being a soldier or a mercenary, I guess."

Garrus heaved, thinking of Sidonis. "I suppose, Massani. Can't argue that Vido was exactly a man worth saving."

"Exactly. I am glad you see my view, turian." Zaeed took another bite from the potato.

Tali peered at Massani, who was almost finished with his potato. "Can you mind not chewing with your mouth open? It's disgusting."

"Sorry, quarian. Didn't mean to disturb you." He immediately closed his mouth and took another long draught of tea. He belched. Tali rolled her eyes, mildly annoyed but not overly so.

Gardner finally appeared, with a bottle of California chardonnay. Popping open the cork, he poured some of the clear, slightly yellowish fluid into Miranda's sifter. "Here you go, Ms. Lawson. Call me if you want some more."

Miranda nodded. "Thank you, Gardner." She took a draught of wine from the sifter. "So, what exactly are our plans, Commander? We have been drifting for nearly two days. I suppose that we should head back to the Citadel for supplies and to contact either the Council or the Alliance."

Shepard turned to face Miranda. "Well, I can't think of anything else that we can do. You're right, we should head back to the Citadel for supplies, and perhaps, with these new Reaper blueprints, we may be able to finally convince the Council that the Reapers exist and that they must take proper action to unite the galaxy in event that they return."

"Well, Shepard," Tali began nervously, "what if they don't believe us, like last time?"

"Then we will stop them on our own. Seeing how the Council fleet was decimated two years ago, we will not be defeating the Reapers on conventional means alone, even if the Council decides to help us. We have the will; we just need to find a way." Shepard pounded his fist on the table for emphasis.

It was moments like these when Tali feels the warmth of her admiration for Shepard upon her chest. In scenes of doubt, Shepard always has an answer. If something seemed impossible, Shepard makes it possible. Moments like these remind her precisely why she chose Shepard.

Her thoughts were immediately interrupted when Mordin suddenly rose from his chair besides her, with a solved Rubik's Cube upon his palm for all to see. "Ah! Finally! Success! No human puzzle in the galaxy is a match for **the Dr. Mordin Solus**!"

In that brief moment of Mordin's personal triumph, a great _BOOM _suddenly shook the Normandy.

The lights went out. Miranda was knocked off her chair, her sifter of wine smashing upon the floor into many tiny glass bits. Zaeed's dinner tray slid off the table. Mordin toppled over upon Tali, who caught him before he fell upon the floor. Garrus' chair slid sideways, sending the turian onto the floor. Shepard grasped his hands upon the table, trying to steady himself. His instinct told him only one thing: **the Normandy was under attack**.


	2. Revelations

**Mass Effect: The End**

**Chapter Two – Revelations**

The shaking stopped. The emergency lighting came on, bathing the mess hall in a red hue. EDI's monotonous, emotionless voice suddenly appeared over the intercom. "_Fusion plant offline. Rerouting critical systems to backup generator. Initiating preliminary defensive protocols. Shepard, are you all right?_"

"I'm fine, EDI!" Shepard stood up, examining the crew members around him, most of who were lying on the floor, struggling to stand up and make sense of the last thirty seconds. "Are we under attack?"

"_Unfortunately so. Three frigates, of unknown origin, are closing in on the Normandy's position. One of them used a directed EMP blast to disable the fusion plant, causing an explosion due to short-circuiting. Damage was limited to engineering. However, it seems that they have yet to resort to conventional weaponry._"

"Ugh." Garrus pulled himself off the floor, groaning. "Shepard, are we still in the Terminus Systems? These frigates could belong to batarian pirates. They may try to board us."

"We should be in Council space by now. Plus, pirates won't attack an armed vessel of this size." Shepard walked over to Miranda, who lay sprawled in a fetal position on the floor. Her left wrist had sustained a few bloody lacerations from the shattered wine sifter. Miranda offered Shepard her right hand, and with Shepard's assistance, she stood up, slightly dazed but alert nonetheless.

"Thank you, Shepard. But, my wrist… It stings." She grimaced.

"Miranda, you're tougher than nails. Go to the medibay for some medigel if you need it." Shepard sprang into action, directing his subordinates to their stations. "Garrus, Mordin, come with me to the flight deck. Tali, head to engineering and assess the damage. Zaeed, go to the armory to make sure the crew is armed in case the enemy boards."

Shepard sprinted for the Normandy's main elevator without another word. Garrus and Mordin followed him closely.

* * *

"Joker, give me sit-rep!" demanded Shepard as he approached the Normandy's helmsman. "Who's attacking us?"

Joker spun his pliot's chair 180 degrees to face his commanding officer.

"Commander, you won't believe it, but these attackers… They're hanar…" He pointed out the window. Three ships, all bearing an odd similarity to stingrays, were flanking the Normandy.

The hanar ships glided alongside the Normandy gracefully, moving more like stingrays in the water than spaceships cruising through empty space. For a brief moment, Shepard was mesmerized by how the vessels oscillated up and down as they moved, like waves upon a plucked string.

"Hanar?" Shepard eyed the ships for another brief moment, before turning to face the Normandy's pilot. He raised his eyebrows.

"Hanar?" Garrus folded his arms upon his chest in disdain. "Since when did the hanar ever possess a real navy?"

Mordin looked out the window and rubbed his chin, observing the up-and-down movement of the frigates. "Vakarian, Illuminated Primacy fields small navy for colonial defense. Ten frigates, four cruisers, plus a number of other smaller craft. All produced by hanar military industry, hence the unique, proprietary designs. No dreadnoughts, however."

Joker gave Shepard an exasperated look, annoyed by the commander's apparent disbelief. He sighed. "Look, commander, I'm not crying wolf here! You can break my legs later if you want, but you should at least talk to these guys first." He motioned over to the microphone on the pilot's console.

As soon as Joker finished voicing his indignation, a light, disembodied, melodic voice echoed on the intercom. "Err, hello? Is the commanding officer of this ship on the line? We apologize for the inconvenience caused, but you are violating hanar space and we were forced to take countermeasures."

Shepard walked over to the console and picked up the microphone. "This is Commander Shepard of the Normandy SR-2. Why did you fire on us?"

"Ah, finally, a commanding officer. This is Captain Kellogg'briand of the Eva'morda. We apologize immensely for firing upon your ship without warning, but we were under orders to shoot on sight. The events of the past few days… has made us more jittery than usual."

The hanar's last sentence piqued Shepard's interest. His mind tingled with curiosity at these events may have consisted of. "What happened these last few days?"

Kellogg'briand continued. "Two, perhaps three days ago, a very large warship, resembling an insect of some kind, appeared in this sector. It was at least twenty to thirty times the size of any of the frigates that we had patrolling this sector. We intercepted it and asked that it identify itself. When it refused to respond, we fired upon it, per protocol. However, our shots hardly even made dent on its shields. What happened next… was rather tragic."

An unpleasant sense of forebodingness prodded itself against Shepard's chest. "Go on," he gasped, breathless.

Kellogg'briand heaved. "Err. Yes. It raised one of its 'tentacles' and fired a beam of molten metal of some sort onto one of our frigates. Our frigate was vaporized instantly, with all hands lost. We lost our nerve, and withdrew as quickly as we could. This ship did not pursue us. I immediately filed a report to my commanding officer, instructing him to forward this report to the highest levels of the Illuminated Primacy. Since then, we have raised our alert level in this sector."

"Ah hah!" Mordin raised his finger. He paced back and forth, mumbling. "Hmm. Large warship shaped like an insect. Impenetrable shields. Utilizes weapon similar to the Thanix cannon. All makes sense now. This was a…"

Shepard put down the microphone. "…a Reaper," he whispered. He did not need Mordin to finish his thought. He knew precisely what the hanar was describing.

Joker sighed. "Hmph. So the Reapers have returned? Great. Just when life was getting back to normal and when we could finally talk again without being overly melodramatic for no reason… Synthetic warships from nowhere threaten the galaxy once again. Just great." He leaned back on his chair, allowing the news to sink.

EDI's voice suddenly shook the brief silence following Joker's words. "_You should take your own advice, Jeff. You are being quite melodramatic yourself at the moment._"

Joker rolled his eyes. "EDI, you know what I mean."

The blue orb appeared on the console once again. "_I was simply pointing out a small contradiction on your part, Jeff. No harm done._"

Shepard gave Joker and EDI a stern look. "Oh, be quiet, both of you. This is no time for petty arguments." He reached for the microphone. "Captain, by any chance, do you have this mysterious ship's energy signatures? If so, I would appreciate it if you can forward that to me."

"Of course," Kellogg'briand replied. "Uploading energy signature to you now."

Bizarre symbols appeared on the pilot's secondary console. "EDI," Shepard instructed, "Scan the signature for anything of note."

"_Affirmative. Compiling signature. Processing output._" The series of bizarre symbols scrolled downwards at a seemingly infinite speed, before stopping.

"_Shepard, it appears that this ship is indeed a Reaper. Large portions of the signature bear similarities to the energy signature of the Reaper Sovereign. This Reaper may be part of another vanguard._"

Shepard cursed. "Shit."

"_But wait, there is more. This energy signature also tells me that this Reaper bears large traces of stellar material from the Ring Nebula._"

"Why is this imporant, EDI?" Shepard asked.

"_Shepard, the Ring Nebula formed nearly 200,000 years ago out of a dying star, long before the Protheans became the space-faring race that they once were. In contrast, the Perseus Veil began forming only around 50,000 years ago, during the Prothean extinction._"

EDI paused for a brief moment, before continuing.

"_An archive of Sovereign's energy signature bears large amounts of stellar material from the Perseus Veil, demonstrating how much time it spent hibernating there. Stellar dust, dark matter, the like. To compare, the energy signature of this unknown Reaper bears even more stellar material from the Ring Nebula than Sovereign does from the Perseus Veil._"

"So you're saying that this Reaper could have been around in this galaxy for even longer than Sovereign has?"

"_Precisely._"

"But why didn't this Reaper join Sovereign during the attack on the Citadel two years ago? It doesn't make any sense," Shepard responded.

"_It is impossible to know for certain. Perhaps this Reaper served as the vanguard during an earlier extinction cycle and failed to awake from its state of hibernation. Mostly likely, someone or something activated it recently._"

Shepard's mind was in tailwinds. _Another Reaper? Older than Sovereign? If so, who activated it?_

Kellogg'briand's voice echoed once more on the intercom, interrupting Shepard's train of thought. "Are we done here? If so, my patrol will gladly escort you to the nearest mass relay. Again, we apologize for attacking your ship – we will try to be more careful next time." Without another word, he disconnected.

Garrus gave Shepard a puzzled look, appearing just as unsettled as his Commander was over EDI's revelation. "Well, Shepard, looks like our job just got a lot more complicated."

Shepard shrugged. Even though his mind was unsure of what to make of this newfound knowledge, he still wanted to remind himself of the bigger picture. "Maybe. But this means that we have one more Reaper to kill before this is all over, at least. But let's straighten some things out first before we go hunting. Joker, when we hit that mass relay, set a course for the Citadel. Garrus, Mordin, meet me in the Comm Room."

Joker resumed the auto-pilot. "Aye, aye, Commander."


	3. Shore Leave, Part I

**Mass Effect: The End**

**Chapter Three – Shore Leave, Part I**

"Another Reaper?" Miranda shook her head.

"Well, that's what the hanar told us. I also had EDI confirm the energy signature we received from them. Seems pretty legit to me," Shepard replied.

They were both in the Comm Room. Garrus and Mordin were there with them. Legion, the geth, and Jacob Taylor, the Normandy's armory chief, were also there.

"Shepard-Commander," Legion began, "With all the knowledge that we possess of the Old Machines, little in the historical record indicates that the Old Machines send more than one of their own to act as a vanguard prior to the next extinction cycle."

"Perhaps this was a Reaper that malfunctioned and lay in hibernation for longer than it should have?" Mordin suggested.

"Or maybe the Reapers sent in another of their own to act as a vanguard, since Sovereign was destroyed two years ago," Jacob said.

"No, that's impossible," Shepard retorted. "EDI claims that this Reaper has been in this galaxy for even longer than Sovereign has."

"What if the energy signatures were faked? The Reapers could be trying to throw us off. We know of the manipulative tactics they are capable of." Miranda ran her fingers through her hair, as she always did in times of apprehension.

_All this speculation is going to get us nowhere_, Shepard thought. _Best to call off the meeting and resume our current plans_.

"Ok, crew. All this speculation isn't going to help us fight the Reapers. It's a Reaper, and therefore, we must eliminate it using any means necessary."

Jacob gave Shepard a quick glance. "Well said, Commander. Another Reaper is just another Reaper, right? More junk for the galactic scrapyard."

Shepard gave Jacob an appraising look. "Agreed, Jacob. Agreed. Dismissed, all of you!" The crew began filing out of the room. Mordin, in his haste to get out, bumped into Legion.

Mordin stopped in his tracks. "Oh, sorry, Legion. Need to get back to lab; to assess damage from explosion."

The geth turned around to face the salarian. "No apology necessary, Dr. Solus. We did not even realize that you were pushing us." Without another word, the geth turned around, and recommenced its walk towards the Normandy's AI core.

The Comm Room was empty. Shepard, aware that the emergency lighting was still on, knew that the Normandy was still damaged from the hanar frigate's EMP blast. "EDI, is the fusion plant up and running yet?"

"_Almost, Shepard. Chief Engineer Tali'Zorah and the rest of the engineering team are still making repairs. Luckily, the damage was not too severe. The fusion plant will resume operation within the next hour. The Normandy should be restored to its previous state within a few hours. Also, the Illusive Man would like to speak with you._"

Shepard frowned. "Great. Okay, EDI, patch him in."

Shepard turned away from the doorway and walked towards the blue circle on the floor at the other end of the Comm Room. The room disappeared. There, the Illusive Man sat in his chair, taking a puff from his cigarette. A red giant was visible in the large window behind him. Its light bathed both the room and the Illusive Man in a dark orange hue. His eyes drilled into Shepard's. He took the cigarette butt out of his mouth and placed it into an ashtray.

"Shepard. I understand we've had a heated argument over what happened a few days ago."

Shepard glared at him. "We didn't need that base to defeat the Reapers."

The Illusive Man heaved. Shepard was too independent a figure to take orders from a man like him. He didn't have much leverage on him either, at the moment. _Should have put a control module in his brain, just like Miranda suggested_, he thought. He took a pack of Marlboros out of his suit's breast pocket, taking a cigarette out of the box. He hastily put the box back into his breast pocket and then lit the cigarette with a Bic lighter. He took a long puff.

"Maybe, Shepard. Maybe. But if we lose, I'll make sure that all of humanity knows that you cost them a potential victory – and their lives. But, you're right. I wouldn't have brought you back from the dead if you couldn't find a way to defeat the Reapers. With or without the base, you'll find a way – that alone I am certain of. You need me, and I need you. At least we can establish that as true between the two of us."

Shepard didn't respond. He maintained his glare.

The Illusive Man crossed his legs and leaned forward, eager to change the subject. "Shepard, my sources tell me that there is an unidentified Reaper prowling across the galaxy as we speak."

Shepard stopped glaring at him and took a step back. "We already know. A hanar colonial patrol encountered it a few days ago."

The Illusive Man raised his eyebrows, surprised by Shepard's acknowledgement of this fact.

"Correct. We managed to intercept this encrypted report bound for the Illuminated Primacy. It was issued by a certain 'Captain Kellogg'briand', of the First Colonial Defense Squadron. That is how we learned of this Reaper. There haven't been any other sightings of this Reaper, so we are presuming that this Reaper has either returned to its state of hibernation in an isolated part of the galaxy, or it is moving through the galaxy undetected so far. It is impossible to know for certain what this Reaper's intentions are, but we are guessing that it is up to no good."

The Illusive Man's reached the glass of whiskey on his chair's right armrest. He took a draught and set the glass down. "Here is the most interesting part: Judging from this Reaper's energy signatures, it probably predates Sovereign's time in the galaxy."

"EDI already told me of all this," Shepard replied. "Nothing you're telling me here is exactly news to me."

The Illusive Man's eyes lit with surprise. "You are remarkably well-informed then. Well, that makes my job mildly easier-"

Shepard cut him short. "That means that I can gather my own intel now, right? So that I don't need you anymore?"

"No, Shepard. Just because you stumbled onto this information by chance does not connote that you have excellent intelligence gathering capabilities like I do. Every extranet broadcast is filtered through my organization. Every radio signal is probed for potential leaks. Information is my weapon, Shepard. You still need me for that. Otherwise, you will be charging off blind, probably getting yourself killed along the way."

For the first time in a long time, Shepard found himself unable to disagree with the Illusive Man. _He's right_, Shepard thought. _I still need him for intel_.

"Anyways," the Illusive Man continued, "I would like you capture this Reaper for me, if possible. If and when I get an updated sighting of this Reaper, I will forward its location to you immediately, so that you can take it from there."

Shepard blinked. "Why do you need this Reaper for? Shouldn't we try to destroy it?"

"For the same reasons why you and I are fighting the Reapers. We need to understand their weaknesses, their strengths, and so on, Shepard. Conventional means, as evidenced by the battle against Sovereign two years ago, will not be enough to stop an armada of Reapers from carrying out their forced genocide upon us." The Illusive Man took another puff from his cigarette.

Shepard dropped his tense stance. "Very well, then. Keep me updated on any future developments."

"Naturally, Shepard. Good luck." The Illusive Man disconnected.

Shepard was back in the Comm Room. He turned to the intercom. "Joker, have we gone through the mass relay yet?"

"Yep. We just hit the relay. ETA to Citadel, five hours."

"Excellent. Alert me when we get there." Shepard left the Comm Room.

* * *

The grandeur of the Citadel greeted the Normandy as she approached it. The long arms of the wards were open. Vessels of the various shapes and sizes dotted the space around the station. The Normandy glided gracefully through the clouds, searching for a landing dock. It soon found one, and the Normandy decelerated as she approached it.

Joker looked at his console, flicking through pages of virtual menus, trying to find the option which would allow him to communicate with the captain's quarters privately. When he found it, he pressed upon it and spoke into the microphome. "Commander, we've arrived at the Citadel."

Shepard looked away from his space hamster's cage. He had been feeding the little creature saltine crackers from the mess hall. "Acknowledged, Joker. I'm on my way to the CIC. I need to finish feeding my hamster first."

"Feeding your hamster? Uh, okay then. See you in ten minutes, Commander." _Bullshit_, Joker thought. _Bet he is feeding his quarian girlfriend his you-know-what_.

Tali lay on Shepard's bed, yawning slightly. She was not wearing her suit. "Are you finished feeding him yet? I was getting the feeling that you were spending more time feeding him than consummating our love," she remarked half-jokingly.

Shepard dropped the leftover saltine crackers on his desk and walked towards the bed. He laid himself on the bed, besides Tali. They lay side by side, facing each other. "Of course not, Tali. I was merely feeding him… as part of my duty as captain of this ship." He smiled and caressed her face. "Did I forget to mention that you are the most beautiful woman I have ever met in my entire life?"

Tali giggled. "Oh, Shepard, you flatter me too much. If I am the most beautiful woman you have ever met, then who is the second?"

Shepard's heart knotted slightly. Tali's face disappeared. The faint image of Ashley Williams flickered before him. Various memories flashed before his eyes. Ashley on Eden Prime. Ashley on Virmire. Ashley yelling to him as the Normandy was on fire all around them… Ashley… naked in his captain's quarters on the old SSV Normandy… The tension was too much…

Tali prodded his arm with her hand. "Well? Are you going to tell me?"

Ashley's nude body imploded in front of Shepard's eyes. He was back in the captain's quarters. Tali's face was upon his eyes again. "Uh… there was this asari dancer from Chora's Den that I met a few years ago," he replied sheepishly.

Tali's grin faded into a slight smile. "Really, Shepard. Come on, you must have met more beautiful women than a mere asari dancer. But, if you say so." She got up from the bed and began dressing.

Shepard groaned. _Why, Ashley_, he asked himself. _Why now?_

* * *

"Hey, Joker." Joker saw his commander approaching him.

Joker turned to face Shepard. "Commander," he said, as a way of greeting him.

"Joker, mind if I make an announcement to the crew?"

"Sure." Joker pointed to the Normandy's public intercom. "Go for it."

"Crew," Shepard began. "We've been through a lot in recent days, so, as your commander, I have been thinking of ways to reward you all. So, here's the reward: **four days of shore leave**." He put extra emphasis on the last few words.

Joker huffed. "Shore leave? Commander, you know I can't leave this ship. Shore leave implies walking, you know?" He pointed to his legs.

"Joker, you're right. You do deserve an alternative reward. Here, take some saltine crackers that I took from the mess hall." Shepard tossed a small bag of saltines onto the pilot's console.

"Haha, very funny," Joker retorted. "You know, your hamster might like this stuff. Are you implying that your pilot is just another pet?"

"No, Joker." Shepard began walking towards the airlock. "I don't have any other gifts to give you at the moment. I'll be sure to get you a real gift when I get back. Consider this an I.O.U."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Joker bit into one of the saltines. _Hey, they aren't that bad. Extra salt, too_.

* * *

"Ah, Shepard. Glad to see that you are back from your mission. Have a seat." David Anderson motioned to one of his chairs, inviting Shepard to sit down. They were in Anderson's office within the human embassy on the Presidium.

"Captain." Shepard sat down and extended his hand. "It's good to see you."

Anderson smiled. "Oh Shepard," he sighed, "I am an admiral now, remember? I serve as adviser to Udina these days." He reached for Shepard's hand.

Shepard shook Anderson's hand. "Sorry, Admiral. I forgot about that. A lot has happened within the past month. How's Udina these days? Still an asshole?"

"Oh, I wouldn't call him that – but he's still Udina, that much I am certain of." Anderson picked up his coffee cup and took a draught of coffee. "Want some, Shepard? Freshly brewed coffee, from handpicked Arabica beans. Imported from Columbia. Help yourself." He motioned to a coffee machine on the other side of the room.

"No thanks, Admiral."

"Oh, I forgot to ask you, Shepard. How did your mission against the Collectors go? I presume it was a success?"

"Yes, we destroyed the Collectors' base. Also, we managed to salvage this before we left." Shepard placed a datapad on Andersen's desk.

Anderson set his coffee cup down. He took the datapad and studied it. "Hmm. This looks… just like Sovereign. Are these the schematics to another Reaper?"

"They are. They belong to another Reaper called 'Harbinger'."

"I'll show these to Udina immediately and arrange a meeting with the Council. Shepard, this is irrefutable proof that the Reapers exist. These schematics clearly demonstrate that Sovereign was not a geth creation. I'll send a message to you when I finish pulling the strings on this." Anderson got up from his chair and hurriedly left the room, taking the datapad with him.

Satisfied, Shepard got up from his chair as well. He began walking towards the door, but paused. He looked at Anderson's coffee machine.

_You know what Admiral, I'll take that coffee_. Shepard walked away from the door and towards the coffee machine.

_Excellent_, Shepard thought. _He has decaf_.

* * *

"Captain Bailey?"

"Yes?" Captain Bailey looked up from his newspaper. It was Thane Krios.

"I am here to see Kolyat." Thane straightened his coat.

Bailey wiped some sweat off his brow. _Damn, is it hot in here_. "Certainly, Mr. Krios. Come with me." He got up and began walking towards the C-Sec holding pen. Thane followed him. "We've transferred him from the main holding unit to the juvenile one. So far, he's been a model prisoner. Kid does everything he's told. Doesn't pick fights with anyone."

Thane breathed a small sigh of relief. "Good. So that might shorten his sentence?"

"Maybe. A judge will be reviewing his sentence very soon. The day after tomorrow, I think. So far, the kid has completed half of the community service hours the court has assigned him. Given his behavior, he might not have too many left to complete." Bailey turned right into another hallway. "Here we are, Mr. Krios. Kolyat's cell." Bailey opened the cell door and turned to the C-Sec officer watching the cellblock. "Guard," he instructed, "escort Mr. Krios out of the cellblock when he's finished talking to his son."

"Yes, sir." The officer nodded. Bailey began walking away.

Thane walked into the cell. It was a dingy, poorly lit room. A small latrine and faucet was situated in the right side of the cell. Thane looked left. Kolyat was sitting on a small mattress on the left side of the cell. The boy sat there, silent, simply looking upon the ground.

"Kolyat." Thane walked towards the mattress and sat next to his son. "How are you?"

"Fine." The boy did look up from the ground. Thane looked down upon the concrete floor. A small cockroach was eating a small cube of moldy cheese. It quickly disappeared under the bed.

"Captain Bailey tells me that you might be freed very soon."

"So what? I'll end up back on the streets anyways. There's no future for me here. There's no future for me in this damned galaxy. And you will just abandon me again." Kolyat folded his arms and spat on the floor.

Thane sighed. "You are a good boy, Kolyat. You didn't fail yourself. I failed you."

"Yeah, like you told me a million times already. Listen, father, sometimes apologies are not enough. No matter how many times you say sorry to someone, it will never mean anything without sincere action on the apologizer's part."

"Precisely. I cannot find any flaws in your argument. Which is why I came to visit."

"And?" Kolyat got up from the bed and looked out the cell door.

"Ever want to fight for a cause? Ever want to make a difference?"

"Against what?" Kolyat glared at his father.

"A race of synthetic warships who threaten to kill all sentient life in the galaxy."

* * *

Jacob Taylor made his way through the wards on the Citadel, not sure what he should be doing during his shore leave. Miranda had invited him to dinner at one of the Citadel's most expensive restaurants, but he had declined. He needed some time to himself anyways.

_This bench looks like a good resting spot_, Jacob thought. He sat down upon it. He sighed, looking at the various people who walked by him. Most of them seemed busy, either talking on their cell phones or walking hurriedly to their destinations. The collective chatter of thousands was omnipresent.

"Thief! Thief! Help!" someone cried. Jacob looked to his left. An asari was struggling with a hooded figure a few meters away from him. The hooded figure was trying to pull away the asari's handbag. Jacob got up from the bench tackled the hoodlum. The hoodlum collapsed onto the ground, stunned and crying in pain.

The asari flew at the hoodlum in a rage, beating him with her handbag. The hoodlum collapsed once again, struggling to protect himself against the handbag. She then stopped, raising her fist. "You stupid useless thief! I'll have the police on you! You stupid, no-good-"

Jacob came forward and put the asari's arm down. "Ma'am, relax. I'll deal with him. You can go."

The asari looked at Jacob, surprised. She relaxed her arms. "Well, thank you for the assistance, human. Here, take a few credits. It's all I can offer for your help." She walked away.

Jacob approached the hood, who lay writhing on the ground, panting. He took the hoodlum's hood off, revealing his face. He was a salarian.

The salarian raised his arms, as if to defend himself. "I'm sorry, sir! I was just so hungry, and the soup kitchen had just turned me away, so I got desperate! Please, don't call C-Sec on me-"

"Relax, kid, I won't report you. Here, take a few credits and get yourself something to eat. And stop trying to rob people. You're terrible at it," Jacob warned. He handed the salarian the credits that the asari had given to him earlier.

"Oh, thank you, sir! I promise, I won't try robbing anyone ever again! Thank you!" The salarian got up and ran away in the opposite direction.

Jacob sighed, and walked back towards the park bench. _All in day's work_.

* * *

"So, Kasumi, tell me, how does it feel to break into places where you don't quite belong, and steal things that do not belong to you? It must be very exhilarating." Miranda took bite of beef wellington.

"Exhilarating may be too small a word to describe that feeling, but it is close. Breaking and entering generates a high that not even red sand can emulate." Kasumi Goto took a sip of red wine.

Miranda and Kasumi were having dinner at the Vera Regina, a restaurant known for its grandeur, popularity amongst the Citadel elite, quality of service – and of course, the high price of the items on its menu. The restaurant opened around ten years ago, a time when human restaurants were rare on the Citadel. Its proprietor, the renowned French chef Jean-Claude Duvalier, thought it would be a wonderful idea to bring human cuisine onto the Citadel – that is, until he realized that most aliens were unable to digest human food properly with suffering from severe allergic reactions. Since then, the restaurant's menu has expanded to include not only salarian, asari, and turian cuisine, but even quarian and elcor cuisine as well. Of course, most quarians, on their Pilgrimages with little money, could ill-afford even the cheapest entre on the menu.

Miranda had invited Jacob to such a dinner, but for odd reasons, he declined. So she invited Kasumi instead, eager to use the occasion to find out more about her identity.

"A high greater than red sand, you say?" Miranda put her fork down.

"Yes." Kasumi looked at Miranda, giving her a sly grin. "Yes."

"So, if you wanted to, you could pickpocket everyone in this restaurant and get away with it?"

"Of course, but it would very difficult. I would be caught in the act, but not before I can get away. That's what these are for." Kasumi pointed to the flashbangs and smoke grenades hanging off of her belt.

Miranda took her last bite of beef wellington, deeply satiated by the dish. _They really don't lie about this place_, Miranda thought, taking one last sip of wine before calling the waiter.

"Waiter!" Miranda called. A turian waiter arrived. "Yes, madame, what can I do for you?"

"Bill, please."

The waiter looked at his datapad. "That will be 2,345 credits, please."

"Excuse me?'

"Your bill is 2,345 credits. Will that be debit, credit, charge account, cash…?"

Miranda fished her pockets for her debit card. _Shit_. She had forgotten her debit card aboard the Normandy. "Err... I don't have my debit card on me, sorry…" She gave the waiter a nervous laugh.

The waiter gave her a perplexed look. He turned to Kasumi. "I see, perhaps your companion has money…?"

Kasumi gave Miranda a mischievous wink. "Don't worry, Miranda. I've got you covered…" She reached for her belt.

**BANG**.

A white flash blinded Miranda's eyes. Besides that great **BANG**, her ears couldn't make out any additional sounds. A gloved hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her out of her seat. Miranda began running in the direction where the hand was pulling her. Despite being momentarily blind and deaf, it didn't take long for her to realize what had happened. _Kasumi, you are a genius_.

The flash disappeared. An alleyway came into focus. Miranda could hear screams emanating from the restaurant. Distant sirens could be heard as well. She saw Kasumi bent over, panting.

"You didn't tell me that you didn't have any money on you."

"Sorry, Kasumi…" Miranda began.

"No need. I needed some 'exhilaration' this evening anyways. Haven't pulled off a dine-and-dash in ages. Was pretty fun." Kasumi got up and began walking. "Come on, let's see where Shepard and the rest of the crew are."

* * *

**A/N: Welcome to my first author's note! I hope that you are enjoying the story so far. I know, the story is a little slow to start, but I need to get all the sub-plots down first. This story will start to pick up within the next two chapters or so.**

**You may notice that I might be trying to introduce a love triangle between Shepard, Ashley, and Tali. I've noticed that a number of other Mass Effect 3 fanfics ignore what might happen if you "cheat" on your LI in ME1, so I've decided to introduce this element into my own fanfic. **

**As always, I do welcome reviews, so if you love this story, or hate it, or have anything to say about it, give me a shoutout. Comments do really encourage me to keep going. **

**The next chapter will be out by next week. Until then, ciao!**


	4. Shore Leave, Part II

**Mass Effect: The End**

**Chapter Four – Shore Leave, Part II**

"So, how are you enjoying shore leave so far, Shepard? I hope all this unwinding hasn't generated too much stress within itself, no?" Tali looked at Shepard.

"Of course, not Tali. I'm enjoying it." Shepard leaned back, trying to enjoy himself amidst the chatter and the music.

They were both in Rapture, one of the more eminent and high-end nightclubs on the Citadel. Shepard and Tali had retreated to one of the private booths towards the back of club the moment they had arrived, eager for privacy from the dance floor and the bar. They had arrived here as part of a larger group from the Normandy earlier in the evening.

A few meters away, upon Rapture's main dance floor, Kelley Chambers, Shepard's personal assistant, was dancing with Mordin. Mordin spun Kelley around three hundred and sixty degrees, let go of her hand, and caught her before she fell on the floor.

"Wow, Dr. Solus, I never knew you could maintain such synchronization with the fast pace of asari pop!"

Mordin beamed somewhat. "Flattering, Ms. Chambers. Laboratory experiences have conditioned me to be extremely nimble. Which is useful when mixing volatile chemicals. Dancing to fast-paced music is no different."

Tali sighed. "Wow, Mordin can really dance, can't he? I wish I could dance like him. You want to try, Shepard?"

Shepard grimaced. "No, Tali, I don't feel like dancing at the moment."

Tali frowned beneath her helmet. "What's wrong, Shepard? I know the Reapers are still out there and all, but can't you relieve yourself of worry? Just for one night?"

Despite attempts to say and act otherwise, Shepard remained in a state of deep apprehension. Anderson still had not contacted him about his meeting with Udina over Harbinger's diagrams. There was also that mysterious Reaper roaming the galaxy. And finally, there was the entire Reaper fleet waiting out in dark space, but still gunning for the Milky Way nonetheless...

Shepard heard someone panting next to him. His thoughts imploded. He turned around. It was Kasumi and Miranda.

"Oh, hey, Miranda, Kasumi. Back from your dinner already?" Shepard moved to the left to make room for Miranda. Tali did likewise for Kasumi. The two sat down, trying to catch their breaths. Kasumi's clothing was slightly singed. Miranda had a cut on her lip.

Shepard took a sip from his martini. "You guys look like you been in a fight. Someone try to mug you or something?"

Kasumi wiped the sweat from her brow. "You could say that. Miranda, you have anything to add?"

"No, no. We just had a small altercation leaving the restaurant, that's all." Miranda wiped the blood off the laceration on her lip.

Shepard, annoyed by their attempts to dodge his inquiry, cleared his throat. "Come on, guys, be honest. What really happened?" He glared at Miranda in particular.

Kasumi and Miranda looked at each other. Miranda then turned to Shepard. "Well, ah, we were unable to pay our bill. I had left my debit card on the Normandy. And Kasumi had this idea..."

Tali leaned forward, intrigued. "Oh, wait. I think know what happened. You guys staged some sort of distraction and got away with a free meal, am I correct?"

"It was Kasumi's idea," Miranda retorted. "She threw a flashbang. And quite frankly, I thought it was a brilliant one. I didn't want wash dishes for the rest of the night anyways."

Shepard raised his eyebrows. "And you're sure no witnesses saw you throwing that? That flashbang probably shattered plenty of windows and eardrums."

Kasumi sighed. "Shepard, I didn't throw it. I just let go of the pin and rolled it under the table. I did it as discretely as I could. And as far as I am concerned, no one-"

A male voice boomed in the distance, interrupting Kasumi. "Look! There they are!" Shepard turned around. Three C-Sec officers, two humans and a turian, were approaching the booth.

"Oh shit," Kasumi cursed. She looked around the club for a possible avenue of escape, but found none.

The officers surrounded the booth. The turian officer took out his handcuffs. "You two are under arrest for petty theft and property damage at the Vera Regina," the turian said.

Miranda gasped. "What? What theft? What property damage? I demand to know the meaning behind this!"

One of the human officers sneered at her. "Oh, don't feign innocence. We know exactly what you two did. A waiter there saw one of you throw a grenade of sort under the table after you two were unable to pay your bills. And witnesses saw two human females matching your descriptions leaving the restaurant immediately after that grenade exploded. We reviewed the security footage, too."

"Shepard, what should we do? Maybe we should try to intervene?" Tali whispered to Shepard.

"I don't know, Tali. It's not like they committed murder or something." Shepard found himself mildly conflicted. While he did want to help Kasumi and Miranda avoid arrest, he didn't want to get in the way of C-Sec officers doing their job either.

The turian moved forward, forcing Kasumi to stand up. "And you thought you were going to get away. You are under arrest. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can be used in a court of law as evidence. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you. Do you understand these rights?" He forced Kasumi's arms into a pretzel behind her back and slapped the cuffs on her wrists.

As the other human officer moved to arrest Miranda, Shepard decided to intervene. He stood up. "Wait, officer. These two women are my associates. I'll take responsibility for them."

The turian in charge raised his eyebrows. "And you happen to be...?"

"Commander Shepard. Former Alliance soldier. I currently work as a Spectre agent for the Galactic Council. These two women are under my employ. Please, if there are any fines, I'll pay them right now. But I am due to leave within the next few days, and I need these two women on my ship."

One of the human officers gaped at him. "You're **the** Commander Shepard? I thought you died two years ago!"

"Yeah, but I didn't really die. I was in a coma for two years though."

The human turned to the turian. "Lieutenant, we are dealing with a Spectre here..."

The turian waved his hand in absolute dismissal. "Johnson, I don't give a flying crap if he is really the freaking savior of the Citadel. Escort these two women to the nearest C-Sec office for processing. And Commander, if these two women are really under your employ, come with me. The officer in charge of this ward may like to speak with you."

Shepard breathed a sigh of relief. Captain Bailey was the officer in charge of the Zakera Ward. Perhaps he would be able to negotiate an immediate release for Miranda and Kasumi after all.

"Will do, officer. Tali, you want to come along?" Shepard got up.

"Certainly, Shepard." Tali stood up as well.

As Shepard, Tali, Kasumi, Miranda, and the three C-Sec officers made their way out of the club, Garrus appeared near the entrance. Shepard and the rest of the group stopped. "Err... Commander, why are Kasumi and Miranda in... handcuffs?"

Shepard put his hand on Garrus' shoulder. "Don't worry, Garrus, I've got it under control." Of course, Shepard was lying, as he wasn't really in control. But nonetheless, he didn't want Garrus involving himself.

The turian officer strode forward towards Garrus. "Oh, Garrus Vakarian. It has certainly been a while." The turian extended his hand to Garrus.

Garrus nodded curtly, extending his hand forward in reciprocation. The two men shook hands. The resulting handshake was brief, and in Shepard's eyes, somewhat strained as well. The two turians appeared seemingly intent on crushing the fingers of the other. _There's tension between these two guys_, Shepard mused.

Garrus scowled slightly. "Avala. I've always remembered the many times you have reprimanded me for disobeying protocol."

Lieutenant Avala took a step back, somewhat taken aback by Garrus' bluntness. "Well, Vakarian, rules are rules. If I didn't reprimand you as harshly and as frequently as I did, I would lose my job and C-Sec would lose its reputation. Now, if you will excuse me, I have to take some hooligans down to the station."

Kasumi squirmed slightly at Avala's insult. The C-Sec officer held her arms tightly.

Tali rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Officer, they are hardly hooligans in even the loosest definition of the word."

Avala glared at Tali. "Be quiet, quarian. If I really wanted to, I can have you arrested for vagrancy."

Tali glared at him but said nothing in response. Shepard saw her fists clench slightly.

Garrus motioned to Kasumi and Miranda and then sneered at Avala. "C-Sec never had a reputation to lose in the first place. Why are these women under arrest for, then? If they did do something wrong, then it probably isn't worth prosecuting. Shouldn't you and C-Sec be going after the true criminals – the arms dealers and the drug smugglers – instead of the petty thieves and vagrants?"

Avala stepped forward. "Vakarian, I never knew why you pursued a career in law enforcement in the first place when you weren't interested in enforcing the law at all. So, what have you been doing since you quit the force, then? Washing dishes, begging on the streets, what?"

Garrus heaved slightly, trying control his anger. "Such matters are not of your concern, asshole."

Avala blinked at Garrus' insult. "I see that you finally have the nerve to call your former commanding officer an 'asshole' at last. Congratulations. You never did that when a paycheck and a living were on the line. You are both a loose cannon and a coward all at the same time. How ironic."

Garrus lunged at Avala. Shepard instinctively stepped in between the two men, pushing Garrus backwards towards a table by the wall. Several frightened patrons sitting nearby backed away. The table toppled over, and Garrus and Shepard crumpled onto the floor. The club fell into a stunned silence as gasps and whispers filled the dance floor and the bar.

Shepard's eyes met those of Garrus. He got up. "It's not worth it, Garrus. I don't want another one of my crew getting arrested."

"I know, Shepard. You're right. I shouldn't have lost my temper. I got carried away." Garrus stood up.

"Well, Shepard, I can file an assault charge against Mr. Vakarian here, but I think I won't. Good thing you stopped him there before things got out of hand." Avala looked at his officers. "Men, we've wasted enough time here. Time to go to the station. Shepard? You ready to go?" Avala and his men walked out of the club, with Kasumi and Miranda in tow. Tali followed them as well.

Garrus glared longingly at Avala as he left the club.

Shepard looked at Garrus. "I take it that you don't like this guy."

"I despise him. He was my commanding officer when I was in C-Sec. I always reported to him. The guy was always about protocol. 'Did you read his rights?' 'You know, Vakarian, lethal force is used only as a last resort!' Blah, blah, blah," Garrus said in a mocking tone.

"Well, Garrus, I understand you hold a grudge against this guy, but I don't think you should have taken it so personally."

"I know. But, to me, Avala was an embodiment of that protocol which I despised and came to hate. And I saw him all the time, so it's hard to get around that." Garrus began moving towards the door. "Anyways, I'm headed back for the Normandy, Shepard. See you there." He left the club without another word.

Shepard exited the club, and met Avala, who was waiting outside. They began walking without another word.

* * *

"Any news yet about my son's possible release, Captain Bailey?"

Bailey looked up from his desk. Thane Krios stood before him.

"Ah, Mr. Krios. How are you. The judge finished reviewing the case yesterday, and well, he's decided to put Kolyat on probation for the remainder of his sentence, which is six months."

Thane blinked and put his hands behind his back. "Doesn't probation connote that he must see you or another C-Sec officer to ensure that he isn't violating the terms of his probation?"

Bailey waved his hand. "Oh, Mr. Krios. That's only a mere formality. Kolyat's a good boy. If you want, I can rubberstamp all of these probation papers for you and he'll never have to show up here ever again, unless he breaks another law here on the Citadel. You want me to do that?"

Thane eased himself. "I would appreciate that if you could, Captain."

"Then it will be done." Bailey pulled out a manilla folder from under his desk and presented Thane with six paper forms. "I need six signatures from you, Mr. Krios, one on each one of these forms. Here's a pen."

Thane took the pen and placed his signature on each form. "Finished. Here's your pen."

Bailey took the forms and placed them back in the manilla folder. "Well, that takes care of everything. I guess we will just head over to Kolyat's cell now – Oh, Lieutenant!"

Lieutenant Avala strode before Bailey's desk, pushing Thane aside roughly. "Captain, we have arrested the hooligans who committed that dine-and-dash at the Vera Regina. Here they are." The two human officers strode forward, presenting Miranda and Kasumi to Bailey.

Thane looked at Miranda and Kasumi. The drell appeared slightly amused. "Ms. Lawson? Ms. Goto? I presume this isn't good."

Bailey studied Miranda and Kasumi for a moment. He turned to Miranda. "Say, you look pretty familiar – haven't we met once before?"

"We have," Miranda responded.

"Captain Bailey!" Bailey looked over Miranda's head and saw Shepard and Tali coming towards his desk.

Bailey got up from his desk to greet Shepard. "I presume that the two women standing before me are members of your crew? You here to make your case?"

Shepard nodded. "Yes, Captain. I won't deny that they are not guilty of the crimes which they may have committed, but, as a Spectre, I ask kindly that you drop the charges against them-"

Avala trudged towards Bailey, placing himself in between Bailey and Shepard. "Preposterous! Captain, these two women caused immense damage to one of the most prestigious restaurants on the Citadel, and didn't even pay for their meal! I demand that you ignore such a request. We cannot allow a Spectre to ignore the rule of law-"

Bailey waved his hand, interrupting Avala. "I know, Lieutenant, but you are forgetting that the man is a Spectre. Let him make his case, okay?"

Avala gave Bailey a frustrated look but gave no further challenge to his superior. The turian sulked out of the office.

Shepard continued. "Anyways, I am willing to pay for any fines and damages that my subordinates may have caused. Does the owner of the Vera Regina give you a damage estimate?"

Bailey trooped back to his desk. "Yes, he did. He gave me an estimate of 100,000 credits, but warns that the cost of damages may exceed this amount, given possible injury claims from patrons who were injured when that grenade exploded. I suppose it won't be much, though. From what the paramedics told me, the worst injury they saw was a blasted eardrum."

Shepard looked down upon the omni-tool on his arm. "Well, we'll make that 200,000 credits then. I'll make that payable to C-Sec."

"Good. Boys, free these two ladies here." The human officers did so, taking the handcuffs off both Miranda and Kasumi.

Kasumi rubbed her wrists. "Ugh. I can barely feel my fingers."

Miranda flexed her fingers slightly. "Don't worry, Kasumi. You'll feel them soon enough. That's what handcuffs can do to your hands."

Shepard smiled, looking at Kasumi and Miranda. "You guys better get back to the Normandy before C-Sec finds another reason to arrest you."

Kasumi flashed Shepard an appreciative grin. "No need to tell me twice, Commander." Kasumi made her way out of the office. Miranda did the same.

The human officers walked out of the office after them, leaving Shepard, Tali, Thane, and Captain Bailey the remaining occupants in Bailey's office.

Thane cleared his throat. "So, Captain, about my son..."

"Yes, Mr. Krios. Come along this way." Bailey looked at Shepard and Tali. "You want to come too, Shepard? His son is getting freed today."

"Really? That is good news, Captain. Let's go."

The four commenced their walk to the station's main holding pen. "So," Bailey asked casually, "You have any plans for your son, Mr. Krios?"

"I do. I plan to keep him out of trouble."

"That's good. Anyways, here we are. Kolyat's cell." Bailey opened the cell door. "If you guys need anything, I'll be in my office."

Thane walked into the cell. Shepard began following him inside as well, but Tali placed a hand on his shoulder. "He needs some time with his son, Shepard. Let's wait out here."

Shepard nodded in agreement. He closed the cell door behind Thane to give Thane and his son some privacy. He and Tali stood outside in silence.

* * *

Garrus wandered the wards, blindly trying to make his way back to the Normandy's dock. When he reached the Citadel's main financial district, he stopped to examine a public map nearby. _I'm farther away from the Normandy than I had anticipated_, the turian thought.

"Wandering the wards, too?" Garrus turned around. It was Jacob.

"Ah, Jacob. How are you. How's shore leave so far for you?"

"It's good; it's good. Pretty boring. I'm itching to get back into the fight already, but I am willing to take the R&R when the Commander dishes it."

"Same here. Nothing much to make note of." Garrus decided not to mention his unfriendly encounter with Avala to Jacob. He turned back to face the map, attempting to draw an imaginary route to the Normandy's dock with his finger. "Say, you know how to get back to the Normandy from here, right?"

"I sure do." Jacob walked forward, examining the map with Garrus. "You take Citadel Rapid Transit to this ward here, and from there, you just ride the elevator up, walk through here, and there is the Normandy's docking location."

Garrus gave Jacob an appreciative nod. "Thanks, Jacob. You want to go back to the Normandy with me?"

Jacob nodded. "Sure, why not. Citadel is boring as heck anyways."

As the two were about to turn away from the map, a female voice rang out behind them. "Say... I don't want to butt in... but are you Garrus Vakarian?"

Garrus turned around. He gasped slightly. _Ashley Williams_?

* * *

Thane emerged from the cell. By his side was Kolyat. "Shepard, after some discussion, my son has agreed to be a member of the Normandy. Given our current struggle against the Reapers, I thought we could use an extra hand. And of course, I can keep an eye on him as well."

Shepard nodded. "But, Thane, aren't there any better options available? Do you really want your son sticking out his neck for this? Perhaps boarding school, or some other form of employment might be an option?"

Thane folded his arms behind his back. "Kolyat understands the risks that he will be undertaking for this mission. However, regardless of the risks involved, I want to spend as much time with him as possible before I die. And Kolyat, having no few skills beyond operating a pistol, will be better off fighting the Reapers than doing-"

Kolyat put his hand up, interrupting his father. "Father, I can speak for myself. My father is right; I can't conceivably do much besides handing a gun. Commander Shepard, I beg you to consider my offer. Otherwise, I'll just drift back onto the streets... I will pledge loyalty to you and your cause, so long as you consider my request."

Shepard found himself impressed by the youth's maturity, which had measurably increased from the last time he saw Kolyat. "Very well, Kolyat. You may join me and my crew, so long as you are willing to obey orders on my ship."

The youth nodded in agreement.

Thane stepped forward and extended his hand. Shepard shook it in reciprocation. "Thank you, Shepard. Your decision means much to me. I will not fail you, and neither will Kolyat. Bless Arashu."

* * *

Shepard, Tali, Thane, and Kolyat returned to the Normandy just as dawn was rising across the arms of the Citadel. As Shepard emerged from the airlock, Joker walked over from the pilot's console to greet them. "Oh, hey Commander! You won't guess who just showed up when Garrus and Jacob came back!"

"Who?" Shepard demanded.

"Well... why don't I let her re-introduce herself?" Joker motioned his arm towards the walkway that led to the CIC. Shepard squinted his eyes somewhat. A slim female figure was sauntering towards them.

_Hmm_, Shepard thought. _She looks... familiar... Is it her? It is..._

_Ashley Williams_.

Ashley strode towards Shepard and greeted him with a kiss on the cheek. "Hey, skipper! Never anticipated my coming-back, did you? I am certain we have some catching-up to do. Oh, and hey, Tali."

Tali's stomach turned itself over. She felt queasy the moment Ashley gave Shepard that kiss. _So the rumors were true_, the quarian thought anxiously. Although the word had not come to her mind her yet, she was already exhibiting the first signs of romantic jealousy.

Tali steadied herself, forcing a smile on her lips and making a few scant words of friendliness with her tongue. "Hello, Ashley," she said semi-bitterly. Her fists clenched slightly.

Shepard looked nervously at both women, unsure of what to do. But Ashley was tugging his arm. "Come on, Shepard. I think I owe you an explanation for what happened on Horizon. Your ship's cook agreed to make a special dinner for us."

Although Shepard did not want to, his legs suddenly rose into motion, like a jerky old car roaring back to life again. Ashley grasped his hand and put her other arm around his waist. Shepard dared not to look back at Tali, much less her face.

Tears trickled out of Tali's eyes. She walked quickly towards the airlock door, and disappeared into the airlock, shuttering the airlock door behind her. Thane heard faint sobbing behind the airlock door.

Kolyat scratched his head. "Where did that quarian run off to?"

Thane shook his head. "She needs some time to herself, Kolyat. Come along, I'll show you your quarters."

As Thane and his son slowly walked towards the CIC, Joker sat there, musing about Tali's sudden disappearance into the airlock. The source of her sudden breakdown was not unknown to him. "I've always wondered, EDI: Are some romances always broken because people have to make choices on who their ultimate partners will be?"

EDI's avatar popped up on the pilot's console. "_Not always, Jeff. But it is a major cause. Jealousy is one common trait that all organics share._"

"Can AIs get jealous, too?"

"_Answering such a question is outside of my capacity, Jeff._"

"Bullshit, EDI."

"_I'm serious._"

"I'm going to look this up on the extranet, okay? Not going to bug you anymore, since you obviously don't have an answer." Joker opened up the extranet browser on his console.

The airlock door opened. Tali emerged from it. Joker turned around. "You okay, Tali?" Tali didn't answer him. She was strolling towards the CIC at a steady pace.

"_Tali'Zorah needs to be left alone for a time, Jeff. I recommend that you refrain from talking to her until this matter has resolved itself,_" EDI observed.

"Geez... Never knew women could be so touchy..." Joker replied.

"_Are you saying something about me, Jeff?_"

Joker snickered. "Of course not, EDI... but your comment has just confirmed my suspicions... AIs can get jealous..."

"_That is a lie. I was merely confused over whether or not you were referring to Tali'Zorah or me._"

"How can you get confused? When I said 'woman', I meant Tali. Get your definitions straight," Joker retorted.

EDI gave a sigh. "_Whatever you will, Jeff. Whatever you will._"

**A/N: Welcome to the end of another long chapter. I apologize for the delay, but I was quite busy the last few weeks with work and such. Yes, the story is still in exposition mode, but I do hope to get the story moving by the time Chapter 7 rolls along. **

**Regarding the whole Tali/Ashley conflict, I intend for Tali to show off the strong side of her personality in the next chapter. She won't be doing any more crying for a long time to come. **

**I have some good plans for Kolyat and Thane as well, since they were heavily featured in this chapter. Same with Garrus. As always, I welcome reviews of all stripes, as they encourage me to keep writing. **

**Until next time, take care. **


	5. Liara's Discovery

**Mass Effect: The End**

**Chapter Five – Liara's Discovery**

Liara T'Soni peered upwards towards the sky. The tall, imposing glass facade of the Goldman Sachs tower extended a seemingly infinite distance into the sky above Nos Astra.

Liara turned to her car and groaned slightly, reaching into the back seat for her briefcase. She sighed. _Another day at work_.

She slammed the car door shut and proceeded across the walkway from the parking garage into the forty-first floor. A large placard behind the main desk imprinted the bold-faced words **Goldman Sachs Illium** greeted Liara as she strode into the main lobby. The main lobby was teeming with people – mostly Goldman Sachs employees scurrying to their stations before the key galactic markets opened for the day. Liara strode across the main lobby, towards the elevators in the back of the building. She swiped her identification card near the security gate, which yielded to her automatically.

As Liara waited for an elevator, she spotted the CEO of Goldman Sachs Illium, Anastia Tiberius, an asari, boarding an elevator reserved for senior personnel.

Liara soon spotted an open elevator, but it was near capacity. She squeezed in nonetheless.

Liara apologized to her fellow elevator riders as she elbowed her way in. "Sorry. Excuse me." The elevator doors slammed shut and the elevator jerked its way upwards into the sky.

* * *

Goldman Sachs, like many Earth-based banking firms, immediately began opening up offices all over the galaxy once humanity's contact with the wider galaxy was formalized. Goldman Sachs Illium, for example, was established in 2165, less than a decade after humanity's clash with the Turian Heirarchy.

While its main rival, Morgan Stanley, was the first to open an office outside of Earth on the Citadel, Goldman engaged in a far more aggressive expansion policy. For example, it is the only Earth-based investment bank to have an office in batarian space, with express approval from the Batarian Hegemony.

Goldman has always prided itself on being the best trading firm in the human financial world. It had recognized the trading opportunities that the wider galaxy could offer early on. When the firm drafted its galactic expansion strategy, the strategy revolved primarily around creating new financial markets for financial products that weren't traded in the wider galaxy. For example, while there were small asari investment banks and hedge funds operating in Illium long before even Goldman Sachs itself was established in 1869, many of them dealt only with financial products similar to stocks, bonds, and futures on Earth. When Goldman arrived on the scene, however, it began selling derivatives locally, as it had on Earth for centuries. Rarely did any of the local asari buying these products understand what they were buying.

The trading desk Liara worked for specialized in only one particular derivative, known as the credit default swap. Despite only a month on the job, she was considered to be one of the best proprietary traders already, buying and selling trillions of credits worth of CDSs everyday on behalf of wealthy clients and institutional investors.

However, Liara harbored few interests in finance, even though she did understand the nuances of the craft. To her, a job at Goldman offered one opportunity that she could not resist: the possibility of identifying and eliminating the Shadow Broker once and for all. _The Shadow Broker is operating through this building_, Liara thought, as the elevator crept ever closer to the credit default swap desk on the one-hundredth and sixty-eighth floor.

Liara's more recent investigations into the Shadow Broker's identity pinpointed that the Shadow Broker was heavily involved in the buying and trading of credit default swaps, usually through intermediaries. Given that Goldman was the largest dealer of such swaps on Illium, it only seemed natural for her to pursue a job at Goldman's credit default swap desk.

Liara had given up much to pursue such an opportunity. She had shuttered her information broker business and had even enrolled at the Illium Institute of Technology to earn a master's degree in finance to gain entrance into the field.

When she graduated, she applied only for one firm: Goldman. To her surprise, her interviewer at Goldman was more interested in her Prothean archeological digs, even more so than her aptitude for finance. Liara landed the job without much difficulty. The pay was lucrative as well – amounting to over 475,000 credits base pay, plus additional bonuses on any profits her desk generated. And naturally, since she lived on Illium, much of her pay was tax-free.

The elevator stopped at the one-hundredth and sixty-eighth floor. Liara exited the elevator, and made her way to her desk on the trading floor. The two phones on her desk were ringing already. A computer monitor flashed with unread emails.

Liara sighed. _As soon as the Shadow Broker is dead, I'm rejoining Shepard_.

* * *

"I know, Mr. Lanaya. But I can't sell you this swap for only seventy basis points." Liara was on the phone, arguing with a client.

Liara leaned forward and scanned the monitor on her computer. "Binary Helix's bonds are basically junk, despite the BBB- rating the credit agencies give it. It's barely investment grade, so it's not investment grade at all, in the counter-party's opinion. If you want to buy a swap, you are going to have to settle for buying it at two-hundred basis points or more."

Liara sighed. "The counter-party would never settle for that."

"I can't tell you who the counter-party is. It's confidential."

"I see. Well, good day to you, Mr. Lanaya." She hung up the phone.

"Tough client, eh?" Liara peered up from her monitor.

It was Ekaterina Vist, one of her fellow asari swap traders and the only real friend she had on the trading floor. Ekaterina was very young by asari standards – she was only thirty-two and barely a maiden. The two women had cultivated a close acquaintanceship ever since Liara joined the CDS desk, swaping stories with each other as they much as they traded swaps on behalf of clients. Liara would often tell Ekaterina stories about her archeological digs on distant Prothean worlds in between trades. Likewise, Ekaterina would tell Liara about her difficult childhood, and how she managed to beat all the odds and earn a full scholarship to Harvard University, a human university on Earth.

Liara nodded. "Yes."

"Well, there are still plenty of fools willing to buy swaps on corporations at high quarterly payments. You want to go out to lunch?" Ekaterina asked.

"Sure," Liara replied. "Let me get my purse first."

Liara and Ekaterina were waiting for the elevator which would take them down to the Starbucks on the sixty-fifth floor.

"Ekaterina," Liara began, "You ever wonder who the Shadow Broker is?"

"Such a thought rarely crosses my mind. Why?" Ekaterina gave Liara a puzzled look.

"Well, I've been reading a lot about the Shadow Broker on the extranet, and well, I've always wondered about his or her identity."

The elevator arrived. Ekaterina and Liara stepped into it.

"Well, the extranet tabloids are always full of speculation on who the Shadow Broker is – most of the suspects are usually rich or wealthy. I even read an article once on how Anastia Tiberius could be the Shadow Broker."

Liara gave Ekaterina an incredulous stare. "Really? The CEO of Goldman Sachs Illium?"

Ekaterina waved her hand. "Oh, don't be silly, Liara. The tabloids are full of it. Whoever this Shadow Broker is, it is most likely a large group of wealthy and well-connected individuals who have carved themselves a vast information network. Perhaps Ms. Tiberius is part of it? I don't know."

"Well... there has to be someone running this network, right? If so, then such a person could be considered the Shadow Broker him or herself."

"I don't know. If you are so desperate for the Shadow Broker's identity, then maybe you should try bugging the information derivatives desk," joked Ekaterina. "Or you could watch out for odd swap purchase requests which are obviously based on insider information. I bet the Shadow Broker does stuff like that all the time."

_Hmm. Not a bad idea. I'll keep that mind_, Liara thought.

The elevator doors opened. They were at Starbucks.

The two women lined up near the counter. When it was Liara's turn, she ordered a crossiant and a bottle of water. Ekaterina had a sweet bun. Liara looked at her omni-tool. Twenty more minutes, and she would back on the trading floor with Ekaterina.

* * *

Liara was eying the three monitors on her desk carefully. The central monitor was continually flashing with notifications of new trades being originated and terminated on the Illium Derivatives Exchange, which was operated solely by Goldman. Even though most trades involving credit default swaps do not go through the exchanges, a few such trades do go through the IDEX. Liara watched these trades carefully, looking for any signs of any trades being made out of the ordinary.

Then, she saw one. Someone was buying a one thousand year swap on Synthetic Insights, on a spread of only fifty basis points. _One thousand years? Asari barely even live that long!_

Liara kept her eyes on the screen, determined to find the trade's point of origination. The counter-party was listed as the Illium Development Corporation. The party originating the trade was listed only as "A. Hermann". Liara's mind buzzed with excitement _A. Hermann... That is one of the Shadow Broker's codenames!_

Liara printed a copy of the trade's details and rose from her desk. Ekaterina looked at her from the adjacent desk. "Hey, Liara, where are you going?"

"Oh, I just need to see the IT department. I'll be back."

Liara sprinted for the elevator lobby. Luckily, one was waiting for her when she got there.

* * *

"Hey, can you pinpoint where this trade was made?" Liara presented a copy of the trade to a human technician working in the IT department.

"Why? We usually don't get such requests."

"You're a lowly IT person and I am one of the top traders in this building. I insist." Liara pushed the paper to the technician.

"Fine, fine, fine." The technician took the copy. "Give me five minutes."

"Of course." Liara watched as the technician shuffled away towards a maze of cubicles.

A few moments later, the technician came back, with a datapad and a copy of the trade. "Ms. T'Soni, I think this trade was initiated from this highrise in Nos Astra. Property is called Augustus Heights." He allowed Liara to look at the datapad. She studied it.

The datapad listed an extranet protocol address and a physical address as well. _Suite 6606, Augustus Heights, Nos Astra, Illium_, Liara read.

Liara returned the datapad to the technician. She gave him a critical look. "You sure this is it? The person initiating the trade may be using a proxy to mask his true location."

The technician waved his hand, as if trying to cast her doubts away. "Ms. T'Soni, you should have some more respect for the IT department. We filter out anyone trying to use a proxy from even making a trade on the exchange. Deep packet analysis works very well, especially if they are using a distributed proxy network. It is in Goldman's interest that they be able to properly identify everyone using the exchange."

"Thank you. I appreciate this very much." Liara left the IT department.

* * *

After work, Liara climbed into her car. She was not planning to go home yet.

"VI, set a course for Augustus Heights."

"Acknowledged, Liara T'Soni." The car's VI generated a series of instructions.

Liara shifted the reverse gear, backed out of the garage, and sped for Augustus Heights.

* * *

The gleaming towers of Augustus Heights greeted Liara as she approached them. She parked her car in a nearby garage and killed the engine.

Before getting out of her car, however, she rummaged the glove compartment for her pistol. She pulled it out and holstered it.

Satisfied, she locked the car door and proceeded into the lobby.

* * *

A burly krogan security guard was on duty at the main desk. He was watching an asari porn vid on his security monitor. He saw Liara approach. _Shit_, the krogan thought. He minimized the video on his screen and looked up to greet Liara. "Hello, ma'am. What can I do for you?"

"Hi, I was wondering where Suite 6606 is?"

The krogan gave her a dismissive look. "Why do you need to get in there for? This is a private residence. If you don't live here, then get out."

"Can't you call A. Hermann at Suite 6606? I'm one of his friends."

The krogan shrugged. "Don't have any ways of contacting the residents. Don't even know their phone numbers."

"Oh, hey Liara!" Liara spun around. It was Ekaterina.

Liara gave her a surprised look. "Oh, Ekaterina, what a pleasant surprise to be seeing you so soon after work..."

"You need to get somewhere in this building? I live here, you know, so I have access to the elevators." Ekaterina flashed her keycard so that Liara could see.

Liara looked at the krogan guard. "Is that fine? Can I go with her?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's fine, miss. Don't do anything funny or I'll call the police." The krogan guard returned to watching his asari porn vid.

The two women strolled towards an elevator. Ekaterina swiped her keycard. The elevator door opened, and both women stepped inside. "So, Liara, what brings you to Augustus Heights, anyways? I suppose it isn't to visit me, right?"

"You are so inquisitive, Ekaterina. I just need to visit an old friend." Liara gave her a mildly unconvincing smile.

Ekaterina gave a small laugh. "It all comes with attending a school like Harvard. You are trained to be inquisitive there."

"What's Harvard like? Do many asari study there?"

"Oh, Cambridge is a very quirky place. Many great restaurants, too. As for your inquiry on whether or not asari study there, very few non-humans study there. But, from my impressions, Harvard has been working hard to bring more diversity to its student body by encouraging non-humans to apply, etc. The need for diversity was partially why I earned a full scholarship there. It was an incentive to apply. As for diversity in itself, my graduating class had another asari, a salarian, and even a turian."

"Interesting. What did you study there?"

"Economics. Which is why I ended up trading with you." Ekaterina smiled. The elevator came to a halt on the forty-first floor. Ekaterina looked at Liara. "Well, this is my stop. Do you want to visit my apartment first before seeing your 'old friend'? Perhaps watch a salarian soap opera? We can have some dinner together."

Liara shook her head, thinking about the sixty-sixth floor. "Thank you for the invitation, but I think I'll decline. I do have some urgent business to tend to."

Ekaterina nodded. "I understand. See you tomorrow." She picked up her briefcase and stepped outside the elevator.

"Bye," Liara replied.

The elevator doors closed and the elevator jerked its way towards the sixty-sixth floor. Liara fumbled nervously with her pistol's holster, unsure of what she would discover in Suite 6606. _Could it be the Shadow Broker himself? Or, would it be another one of the Shadow Broker's agents?_

**A/N: I finished this chapter a few nights before I posted chapter four yesterday. I was unsure where to place this chapter, but given that the story most likely won't pick up until chapter ten or so, I've decided to introduce Liara's story now as an intermission from Shepard et al. These two storylines will eventually converge. **

**I am currently studying finance at the university, so that's why I decided to turn Liara into a trader for Goldman Sachs. It gave a small opportunity to integrate one of my academic interests into this story. Don't worry, there won't be any more financial mumbo-jumbo from this moment on.**

**Ekaterina might seem like a minor character, but I do have some plans on expanding her somewhat further. The next chapter won't deal with Liara's encounter in Suite 6606. I'm keeping that as a surprise down the road. As always, thank you for reading and please give a shoutout as appropriate!**


	6. Broken Hearts, Mended Souls

**Mass Effect: The End**

**Chapter Six – Broken Hearts, Mended Souls**

"After what happened on Horizon, I was recalled by the Alliance and was transferred to another ground unit operating on Arcturus Station. It was a pretty boring assignment – I was on guard duty twelve hours at a time, and spent the other twelve in my barracks. And then, one day, I realized how much I had lost – by not following you." Ashley took a bite of potato salad.

Ashley and Shepard were having dinner in the mess hall. Mess Sergeant Gardner had done his best to craft a "romantic" meal out of what was mostly military rations.

"I see," Shepard replied absentmindedly. He prodded the peas on his plate with his fork. He felt another surge of guilt. His mind buzzed with activity. _I should have told Tali about Ashley. I should have cut Ashley off before things got out of hand_.

_Or_, as another little voice in his head rebutted, _perhaps you should have remained faithful to Ms. Williams_.

"You've barely touched your food. Is this Reaper business getting to your head?" Ashley took a sip of water.

Shepard heaved. "No, Ash, it's not that."

"Well, cough it out then, skipper. No point in keeping thoughts to yourself if they make you uncomfortable. I'm listening." Ashley put down her fork and folded her arms on the table. Her eyes drilled into Shepard's.

"Ashley, it's been many months since I last saw you. And, well, things can change very quickly..."

Ashley shook her head. "And...?"

Shepard felt a lump in his throat and decided to change the subject. "Nothing. Forget I mentioned it, Ash. I'm just not really hungry right now." He pushed his plate away. "So, why were you on the Citadel, anyways?"

Ashley gave Shepard a suspicious look, but picked then up her fork and continued eating. "My unit was sent here as part of a PR exercise. We had to demonstrate our 'combat-readiness' to the Council. I was off-duty when I saw Garrus... and that's how I ended up here. So... where is the captain's room on this ship?" She looked at Shepard longingly. Shepard did not reciprocate her gaze.

* * *

Tali's eyes drilled into the engineering console. She had just ran a diagnostic test on the Normandy's main fusion plant. Her eyes scanned the results the obsessively, trying to detect even the slightest hint of a fault on the fusion plant. There were none. She slammed her fist on the console. Tears trickled down her eyes again.

"I thought we ran the diagnostic already?" Tali turned away from the engineering console. It was Gabriella Daniels, one of the Normandy's engineers.

"Oh, hello, Gabby. I was merely running the diagnostic again just to make sure that things were running smoothly. Just... just to be sure." Tali choked on her last sentence.

Daniels carefully scrutinized the quarian's eyes. Tears were glistening through her visor."Is there something wrong, Tali? I get the feeling that you are upset about something..."

Tali flew in a rage, angry at Daniels' reponse. Daniels flinched and took a step back. "Me? Upset? Do I seem upset to you? No, I'm fine. Perfectly fine. How dare you accuse me of being upset? Go, just go... go away." Tali collapsed on the floor and began sobbing, unable to contain her emotions any longer.

Daniels paused for a moment, not knowing whether to comfort Tali or abandon her on the floor. She decided to proceed with the former. She knelt down besides Tali and hugged the her. "You can tell me what's wrong, Tali. I won't judge you. I won't tell anyone else. Promise."

Tali heaved. The tears reduced to a trickle. Her breathing steadied somewhat. After what seemed like an eternity to Daniels, she finally spoke.

"I'm sorry for being angry at you earlier. It was unintended."

Daniels nodded. "I know. No apology necessary."

Tali continued. "Gabby... Was there ever a time in your life when someone you loved decided to abandon you? For someone else?"

Daniels strained to think of such a moment. "To be honest, Tal, I don't recall such a moment in my life."

"Well, someone I loved decided to abandon me today. And it hurt."

"Who was it?"

Tali choked. The tears were coming back. "Shepard," she gasped, before succumbing to a torrent of tears once again.

A small "o" formed on Daniels' lips. Rumors on the Normandy had hinted that Commander Shepard and Tali were in a relationship, but Daniels had thought little of it. Until now.

Daniels grasped Tali's shoulders and forced the quarian to look at her in the eye. "If he had the nerve to ditch you like that, after you have invested so much in him emotionally, then he doesn't deserve your tears or your love, Tali."

Tali gazed into Daniels' striking dark brown eyes, unable to judge the soundness of her advice.

* * *

Mordin Solus peered down the lenses of a microscope. He sighed. _Another failed sample_. He tossed the petri dish into the trash.

He looked at Maelon's research notes again, which were on a datapad besides the microscope. Try as he might, Mordin found it difficult – if not impossible, to follow his former student's research on the krogan genophage. The notes were dominated by typos and various other inconsistencies.

Furthermore, even though Mordin had helped, many years ago, to re-engineer the genophage on behalf of the STG to counter-act the krogans' growing biological resistance to it, he was unsure how to reverse engineer it. Interpreting Maelon's research was half the puzzle. Results of a reserve-engineered genophage, with all of its protein sequences unraveled, was key to providing a viable cure.

Despite this, Mordin was optimistic in his ability to decode the genophage's protein sequences. Maelon's research notes and various instructions, while messy, could be followed through trial and error. Success lay only in persistence.

However, despite the lack of progress at the moment, Mordin remained unsure of what to do if a viable cure did turn up upon his microscope lens.

_No. Cure cannot be used. Krogan remain uncivilized, could overbreed. Millions would die in another rebellion. Study of genophage should be used to cure other diseases and maladies instead_.

_But_, as another voice in his head replied, _krogan demonstrate potential. Use of cure should be moderated if used_.

The laboratory door opened. Mordin looked up from the datapad. His current thought process slid to a halt. It was Kelly Chambers.

"Hello, Dr. Solus!" Kelly greeted the salarian brightly.

"Oh, no need for formalities, Ms. Chambers. We know each other well enough already. Call me Mordin." Mordin turned to face the Normandy's yeoman and reoriented himself. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would like to head over to Rapture with me and dance for a bit. You're a great dancer, Mordin. I really enjoyed the last time we took to the floor."

"Sorry... err... Kelly," Mordin replied, blushing slightly at Kelly's compliment. "Working on something important at the moment. I'll be sure to come with you tomorrow. Shore leave ends the day after tomorrow, no?"

"Correct. So, what are you working on, Mordin?"

"Oh, studying krogan genophage." Mordin paused for a moment, before continuing. "Research may yield clues to curing various genetic disorders across all species. High level stuff."

"I see. I knew a friend in college who studied biology. She current works in the research division for a major hospital on Earth. Even though we have cured cancer and eradicated a majority of infectious diseases, genetic disorders still plague the lives of many."

"Indeed. What makes them difficult to cure is that DNA can not be so easily altered across an entire organism's cells. Gene therapy has its set of problems as well; not quite the cure most would be hoping for. By the way, what university did your friend attend?"

"Oh, she and I went to the same college. Boston College. We both graduated four years ago," Kelly replied.

"Oh, really? I too had a friend who gave a formal talk there once, on the implications of mass biological warfare. Was trying to promote his new book. Spoke at Harvard as well." Mordin chuckled. "I hear the drinking culture at human universities can be quite lively."

Kelly gave Mordin a slight smile. "Mordin, that is a terrible stereotype, even if it is somewhat true. Not everyone drinks in college, however."

"Oh, but did you?" the salarian teased.

Kelly crossed her arms. "Ok, I admit to having a few beers every now and then when I was in college, but it never hurt."

Mordin gave Kelly a playful grin. "To the point of inebriation?"

"Yes to the point of inebriation, but I did that only a few times," Kelly admitted in a slightly embarrassed tone.

"Excessive alcohol consumption can lead to weight gain and cirrhosis of the liver. Just letting you know," Mordin said.

"Thanks for the advice, Mordin. I'll keep that in mind," Kelly replied tersely. She yearned to change the subject. "Are we still on for tomorrow night?" She turned to leave.

"Yes, Kelly. Yes. Looking forward to it." The salarian returned to studying the datapad.

* * *

"Udina, why weren't you in your office yesterday? Why didn't you respond to my calls? I had something urgent to show you," David Anderson fumed, waving the datapad that Shepard had given to him yesterday.

"Anderson, as councilor, I have many important diplomatic functions and duties to tend to. I'm sorry I didn't respond to your calls," Donnel Udina explained with exasperation.

The two men were seated across from each other in Udina's office on the Presidium.

"Certainly, you could have attended one less dinner party," Anderson shot back.

"It was important," Udina responded in a terse tone. "Enough. What did you want to show me?"

"This." Anderson slid a datapad across Udina's desk.

"What's this?" Udina picked it up and studied it. The images on the datapad resembled a blueprint for a space-faring vessel of some kind. To Udina, it looked like a cuttlefish more than a ship. The word "Harbinger" was scrawled on the bottom of the plans.

"Proof that the Reapers exist." Anderson leaned back on his chair.

Udina put down the datapad. "Who gave this to you? Shepard, I am presuming? I am telling you, Anderson, Shepard is a nutcase. I don't know what his motives are, but the Reapers don't exist! This is just another geth ship. Hardly a cause for concern!"

Anderson sighed. "I tire of you listening to your own foolishness. Didn't you yourself admit that the Reapers existed two years ago? Look at those blueprints again. It's clearly not a geth design."

Udina paused, stunned by Anderson's mention of his past mention of the Reapers. "I, yes, but..."

Anderson continued. "Udina, I know we are confronting a harsh truth here, which is bad for politics, but not taking proper action will doom us in the long run. If we don't act now, there won't be any petty politicking for us to enjoy anymore. If you scroll down on the datapad, there's a video of something hideous. I think it's from the Collector base. I think that is proof enough that we are dealing with some deep shit here."

Udina steeled himself and picked up the datapad once again. He scrolled down. Indeed, as Anderson had promised, there was a video. He watched it.

"My God... What is that thing?" Udina interjected in a disgusted tone.

"I don't know. Shepard never told me anything about it when he gave me this datapad. But, whatever it is, it is linked to the Reapers. Convene a meeting with the Council tomorrow. I'll be sure to let Shepard know about it so that he may explain himself more fully."

"Shepard better," Udina grumbled. "Fine, Anderson, I will call for a meeting with the Council tomorrow to discuss this."

"Excellent. Glad to see that you still have some common sense, Udina." Anderson got up to leave.

* * *

"Commander, Anderson is on the line," Joker announced over the intercom in the captain's quarters.

Shepard was sitting at the foot of his bed. Ashley was sitting next to him in her bedclothes, stroking his arm. "You better take that call, skipper. It sounds pretty important."

"Ok, Joker, patch him in." Shepard stood up. Ashley let go of his arm.

"Aye, aye, Commander. Patching him in."

Anderson's voice rang through the intercom. "Shepard?"

"Admiral? Can you hear me?"

"Ah, Shepard. Yes, I can hear you loud and clear."

"Did you talk to Udina?"

"I just did. He is convening a meeting with the entire Council tomorrow. I want you to show up and make your case to the Council."

"Any trouble convincing Udina?"

"Well... he became convinced after I showed him that video on the datapad. I presume you will explain it completely tomorrow?"

"Yes, Admiral. I'll be there."

"Good," replied Anderson. The intercom fell silent.

Ashley looked at Shepard and gave him a sly smile. "Remember, two years ago, when we were traveling to Ilos, when I made a promise to tell you something special after we finally did it?"

Shepard sat down besides Ashley. The two were looking at each other, face to face. "I remember, Ash. But, before you say anything, I want to tell you something. It might upset you, but I can't let this go on any longer."

Ashley gave Shepard a small frown. "Go on."

Shepard heaved. "After our encounter on Horizon, I began developing a relationship with another woman..."

Ashley gasped. "You... cheated on me?"

Shepard held up his hand. "Let me finish, Ash-"

But Ashley snapped at him, interrupting him. "After I gave my soul and body to you-"

Shepard raised his voice. "Ash-"

"...you decide to run off with another woman?"

"I never thought we would ever reignite that old flame. After what happened on Horizon, I thought what we had finally died out for good. Your reappearance... was completely unexpected."

"I sent you an email, Shepard." Ashley stood up from the bed and crossed her arms, pacing.

"I know-"

Ashley turned around, interrupting him again. "No. Before you continue, I have only one question. Who was this woman?"

"Tali."

"You would rather date an alien than to date me?"

"It had been a long time. And... in your absence, well... she became somewhat appealing..."

Ashley sighed and dropped her angry tone. She sat down next to Shepard on the bed and looked at him. "I suppose you're right, Shepard. It had been a long time. And I can't seriously fault you for doing such a thing, now, can't I? The question now is... her... or me?"

Shepard gulped. "It's hard, Ash. I love you both."

"You still have to choose somebody. No, ifs, ands or buts."

Shepard heart suddenly became very heavy, as if a stone was weighing it down. Ashley's face was as radiantly beautiful as the last time they consummated their love before landing on Ilos. But Shepard turned away nonetheless. "I'm sorry, Ashley. I am afraid that I'm sticking with Tali," he replied solemnly.

"Okay, Shepard. I respect your ability to make such a decision. You are as decisive as ever, skipper. I guess I don't have any reason to be in your bedroom anymore, right?" Ashley stood up and made her way for the door.

"We can still be friends, right, Ashley?"

"Sure. But don't expect to get into my trousers ever again. Good night, skipper."

Shepard put his hand to his forehand and groaned. _Only thing to do now is to get Tali on my good side again_.

* * *

Tali spooned into a bowl of food paste, feeding the paste into a tube connected to her enviro-suit. Even though Mess Sergeant Gardner was technically off duty, he was still happy to serve the quarian something to eat before he went to bed.

_Perhaps Gabby is right_, the quarian mused moodily. _Shepard doesn't deserve me_.

She spooned into the bowl with such force that food paste splattered all over her suit. _Oh, damn it_. She reached for some napkins on the table, trying to wipe the food paste off her suit.

"I see that you are still here for a late-night snack, hmm?" Tali paused and looked to her left. Kasumi Goto was standing before her.

"Oh, Kasumi. Hi." Tali continued wiping the food paste off.

"You seem... bothered," Kasumi observed. "You've undergone a serious personality change since I last saw you."

"Perhaps," Tali admitted. "But what does that mean to you?" she shot back aggressively.

Kasumi walked over to the opposite side of the table and seated herself across the table from Tali. "I don't want to intrude upon your private life, Tali, but being a thief, I couldn't resist overhearing the conversation you had with Gabriella earlier in engineering."

Tali fumed. "Kasumi, I don't want any snide remarks from you over this."

Kasumi flinched slightly in face of Tali's aggressive remark. "Well, that wasn't my intention, Tali. I overheard Shepard and Ashley Williams talking earlier as well... and well... he admitted to Ashley that he... loved you more than her. And then he asked Ashley to leave his quarters."

Tali laid down her spoon. "Are you bullshitting me, Kasumi?"

Kasumi stood up. She was wondering if confronting Tali over the issue was so wise after all. Even though she could see only the quarian's eyes through her visor, the anger in those eyes was as plain as light from the Sun on Earth. But, as Kasumi rose to leave, she decided to leave Tali with one final remark.

"I'm not bullshitting you," Kasumi replied curtly, looking down upon Tali. "Shepard still loves you. If you want to take him back, then that's your call. But, it pains me to see you angry all the time, Tali. I just want to see you happy again. That's all. If you want to be angry all the time from now on, be my guest." Kasumi walked away at a hurried pace and disappeared.

Tali sighed. Kasumi's final remark stung. Her anger over Shepard's apparent betrayal was affecting her relationships with her squadmates already. Could she go through this mission in a perpetual state of gall against Shepard?

She hadn't spoken to Shepard in the last day or so. Even during their time on the old Normandy, they rarely ever went through a day without talking to one another. Tali looked at the clock. It was very late.

Although she was loath to admit it at the moment, despite her current vexations, her love for Shepard remained resolute. Shepard could have anyone he wants, for he was a galactic hero, after all. But, for an anonymous and shy quarian like Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, Shepard represented a love she could potentially never have the opportunity of replicating ever again.

Long after Kasumi had left, Tali finally stood up. She still had not finished with her food paste, but it didn't matter. She and Shepard needed to talk.

* * *

The door to the captain's quarters opened. Shepard turned from his desk to see who it was. It was Tali. She paused by the door for a brief moment as she and Shepard starred at each other. During that brief moment, Shepard thought Tali was going to berate him.

After for what seemed like an eternity, Tali cleared her throat. "Shepard, we need to talk..." The quarian was approaching him slowly.

"I know, Tali. I'm sorry for..." Shepard began.

"Don't worry. I overreacted," Tali replied softly. She looked down upon her feet. "Kasumi told me about... everything."

"Really?" Shepard asked incredulously. But then it hit him. Kasumi was a master of surveillance and probably overheard him and Ashley talking.

"I'm sorry... Shepard. It's just that... for that brief moment Ashley took you under her arm, I thought I had just lost you forever." Tali looked up and gazed into Shepard's eyes.

"I couldn't resist. I hadn't seen Ashley in months, and I haven't properly talked to her for two years before that."

Tali sighed and looked away. "I know, but..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

Shepard knew what she was about say. "You were jealous."

"Correct. I was very jealous." Tali folded her arms.

"Well, you don't need to be jealous anymore," Shepard replied in a low tone.

"I hope so, Shepard. I really hope so." Tali turned to the door. "Anyways, I need to get back to engineering. I'll be there if you need me."

"Very well, Tali." Shepard turned back to his desk. He heard the door open and close. He understood that his relationship with Tali was going to require the passage of time before it was fully repaired.

**A/N: Yes, this chapter had been written for ages, but I just kept rewriting many of the conversations, adding and subtracting characters. It was difficult for me to really make these conversations as visceral as they should be – but hopefully, I didn't do too shabby of a job. **

**Next update will all be about Liara. I haven't quite written it yet, but a draft is in the works. Working nearly 40 hours a week isn't exactly conducive for full-time writing, hopefully this fanfic will be complete before Mass Effect 3 is released. **

**I also have some fanfic ideas (some for ME, some for other video games that I enjoy) on the backburner, so don't expect this to be my one and only fanfic. **

**Thank you for reading, and until next time, take care.**


	7. Turning Point

**Mass Effect: The End**

**Chapter Seven - Turning Point**

Liara emerged from the elevator and into a hallway on the sixty-sixth floor of Augustus Heights. The hallway was extremely sterile, even by Nos Astra standards. No paintings or photographs adorned the walls. The hallway was completely bathed in white: greyish-white marble adorned the floor, while white-painted plaster covered the walls. The entire hallway was lit with glass chandeliers spaced several meters from one another.

Liara could hear faint signs of life all around her – some chatter here, some music there. Obviously, the floor was occupied, but she saw no one in the hallway.

She tip-toed down the hallway as inconspicuously as she could. Liara noted the omnipresence of security cameras all throughout the entire length of the hallway. _But that stupid krogan guard probably isn't keeping a steady eye on them, so I'm safe_.

Soon enough, the door to Suite 6606 was before her. Liara examined the lock. It was an old-fashioned cylinder lock. Using her biotics, she crushed the pins in the lock. The door swung open, revealing a small studio apartment.

Liara stepped in, closing the door behind her. She pulled out her pistol and assumed a combat-ready stance. A small den lay before her. The den contained only three items of notice: a sofa-bed, a computer, and a television. Peering left, she saw a small kitchen. The flat, under all perceptions, was seemingly unoccupied. Liara lowered her pistol and walked forward to examine the computer before her. The computer was on. Before she could take a closer look, however, she was struck in the head with a vase, and knocked out cold.

* * *

"Ah, Shepard. Glad that you arrived on time." Anderson strode forward to greet Shepard with a handshake as the former marine entered his office, flanked by Miranda and Mordin.

Shepard shook Anderson's hand and smiled. "Wonderful. Is the Council ready to meet us?"

"In a few minutes. But, Shepard, I must say: That footage you gave me was the only reason I managed to get Udina to arrange this meeting in the first place."

"You are quite welcome," Shepard replied. "It was Miranda's idea." Miranda gave a small nod of approval at Shepard's mention of her name.

Anderson turned around and motioned towards the holographic projectors. "Come on, the Council is bound to arrive at any minute. Udina should be here in person any minute now-"

"Anderson! Shepard!" a voice boomed in the distance. Shepard and his comrades turned around. Udina was walking towards them, dressed in his formal Council robes.

"Udina." Anderson strode towards Udina and shook his hand. "Surely the robes weren't necessary for a small, private meeting like this?"

"Nonsense. I am a representative on this Council, hence I should set an example and dress formally in the presence of my colleagues, now, shouldn't I?" Udina looked at his omni-tool, then looked up at the holographic projectors. "The councilors should be appearing in a few minutes from now-"

The holograms of the asari, turian, and salarian councilors suddenly appeared on the holographic projectors just as Udina finished his sentence. Udina looked at his omni-tool again. "Damn omni-tool. Doesn't even report the time correctly," he muttered to himself sullenly.

"Good morning. Admiral. Councilor," the asari councilor began curtly, nodding in the direction of both Anderson and Udina. She scanned all of the figures present in the room quickly, and then laid her eyes on Udina. "I believe it was Councilor Udina who called for this meeting?"

"Morning, madame councilor," Udina began. "Yes, I did call for this meeting, and I intend to discuss a major threat to galactic stability as a part of this meeting." The strain in his voice was noticeable to everyone present.

The turian councilor caught a glimpse of Shepard and then snapped at Udina, interrupting him. "Judging by Shepard's mere presence in this room," the turian began coldly, "I believe that this meeting concerns Commander Shepard's Reaper fantasies again?"

"Err... I believe that Commander Shepard here may be able to explain this better than I can." Udina stepped away as he finished, slightly embarrassed and regretting his decision to convene the meeting at all. Shepard saw that as a cue for him to step forward.

Shepard gave the turian councilor an annoyed stare before turning his eye on the asari councilor.

"Ah, Commander Shepard. Welcome back. Your mission was a success, no?" the asari councilor inquired.

"It was a success, thank you, madame councilor. The Collectors, for the most part, have been eliminated. But, before we dwell on anything else, I would like the three of you to view this video that I have here." Shepard motioned to Miranda. "Miranda, will you do the honors?" She nodded and pressed a button on her omni-tool." A virtual screen popped up, and a video began to play.

_The video began with the sound of gunshots. Tali and Mordin were firing blindly upon waves of Collector Drones inside the Collector base behind cover with their assault rifles. "Tali, Mordin, more Collectors on our right!" Miranda's voice shouted. The camera shifted to the right, showing a glimpse of a Praetorian looming in the distance. "Kasumi, take out that big one with your rifle!" The camera then swung around, catching a glimpse of Kasumi Goto taking aim with a sniper rifle. _

"_You got it, Ms. Lawson! Mincemeat coming your way," Kasumi replied. She pulled the trigger. A great BANG erupted. The camera swung towards the direction of the Praetorian once again. It exploded in great mass of gooey flesh and entrails once Kasumi's round pierced it._

"_Excellent!" Miranda exclaimed. "Let's move up! Go, go, go!" Tali and Mordin emerged from cover and began pressing forward._

_The video continued without any breaks or pauses, showing the team's descent into the central chamber as the Collectors' resistance frayed. Miranda's team is shown linking up with some additional team members as they all approached the chamber's doors. The chamber's doors opened, revealing an infinite number of human-sized pods, arrayed throughout the entire chamber in a haphazard fashion. A vast network of what appeared to be pipes were strewn across the ceiling of the chamber in an equally haphazard fashion. Some of these pods were occupied by a number of unconscious humans. Shepard is shown slowly approaching one of the pods. _

"_Shepard," Miranda's voice echoed behind him, "It's one of the missing colonists." _

_Shepard slowly approached the pod, and rapped on pod's glass pane softly with his hand. The human inside the pod appeared to stir slightly from her slumber. As she stirred, however, something began to eat away at her flesh, seemingly melting it in front of Shepard's eyes. Shepard took a step back and gasped. "Good god, she's still alive! Get them out of there!" Tali ran towards one of the other pods, freeing Yeoman Chambers by breaking the glass on the pod with the butt of her rifle. _

The asari councilor batted her eyes and gasped slightly. The salarian councilor leaned forward slightly with some interest. Even the corner of the turian councilor's mandible twitched slightly in a mixture of shock and curiosity. Yet none of them could rouse themselves to speak. Shepard enjoyed the look of shock and horror on their faces. _They finally get it_, he thought.

_The video continued, showing Shepard's further descent into the central chamber of the base. As the chamber came into the camera's view, a partially constructed Human-Reaper came into view. Almost immediately, gun shots were heard, and the video cuts out. _

The virtual screen on Miranda's omni-tool folded itself when the video ended. Miranda put her arm down and rejoined her commander's side, looking very pleased at herself.

"You want proof? There it is," Shepard said, quoting the same words that Udina himself uttered when they presented audio proof of Saren's betrayal two years ago.

The asari councilor, although momentarily stunned, regained her composure and began to speak in a hushed tone. "That... that... thing... towards the end of the video..." she whispered, "was it human?"

"Partially. The Reapers were creating another one of themselves by using the genetic material harvested from the tens of thousands of humans the Collectors kidnapped from human colonies beyond the Traverse. It was a Human-Reaper."

The turian councilor, having recovered from his state of shock, waved his hand in disgust. "Shepard, your so-called 'proof' demonstrates no shred of evidence that these 'Reapers' even exist. These 'things' you were fighting in the video – they were Collectors, no doubt? And this thing they were building...?"

Shepard cleared his throat. "Yes, councilor," he began tersely, "but the Collectors were not working on their own. They were Protheans that were repurposed by the Reapers to serve their needs-"

"And yet you have no proof of such links," the turian councilor snarled.

Shepard sighed. "Mordin, explain to the councilors here the link between the Protheans and the Collectors."

The salarian stepped forward. "Certainly, Shepard." He paused briefly before the councilors to summon his omni-tool's virtual screen once more.

The turian councilor glared at Mordin as he came forward. "And who are you supposed to be?" the turian snapped.

Mordin took a breath before he began. "Dr. Mordin Solus. Former associate professor at the Sur'Kesh Institute of Technology. Former operative for Special Tasks Group. Specialization within STG: Biological Warfare. B.S., Chemistry, University of Sur'Kesh. M.D., Sur'Kesh Institute of Technology School of Medicine..."

The salarian councilor sighed and held up his hand. Mordin immediately halted his monologue.

"That would be enough, Dr. Solus," the salarian councilor said. "I see that Shepard has had the foresight to recruit a man such as yourself. Academic, doctor, and soldier all rolled into one! I have heard of your work with the STG, Dr. Solus. Most impressive. Please go ahead."

Mordin nodded in acknowledgment of the salarian councilor's remarks. He cleared his throat.

"Councilors," Mordin began in a somewhat pompous manner, "After brief examination of a Collector corpse encountered during the mission, it can be concluded that the Collectors were repurposed Protheans." He motioned the councilors to look at the screen on his omni-tool. "If you can look here at the Collectors' DNA sequence, there is one protein sequence which bears a complete resemblance to a Prothean DNA sequence from preserved Prothean tissue discovered on Mars a number of decades ago. The Collectors' DNA also appear to have been heavily rewritten by their masters."

"Rewritten?" the turian councilor interjected. "Perhaps, Dr. Solus, the Collectors were a breed of Protheans who evolved separately from mainline Protheans and escaped extinction?"

"Impossible." Mordin waved his hand to dismiss the turian's remark. "Evolution – slow process. Very slow. For example, it took millions of years for humans to evolve from an indistinguishable offshoot of chimpanzees to the form that they take today. Protheans vanished over 50,000 years ago. Doubtful that any significant evolutionary process could have taken place within such a timeframe."

"Very well, Dr. Solus. Thank you for your insight," the asari councilor said. Mordin bowed and stepped back to rejoin his commander's side. "Shepard, we have no reason to doubt your colleague's claims, given his credentials, but there is still one outstanding issue that must be resolved..."

"Precisely," the salarian continued. "You still have yet to show us direct proof of these Reapers that you have been warning us of ever since the defeat of Saren two years ago."

"And you are wasting our time," the turian councilor spat.

Shepard knew that he was losing the Council's attention. "But the Human-Reaper..."

"...is destroyed, no? Along with the Collectors?" the asari councilor finished for him. "Then, there is nothing for anyone in this room to worry about."

Shepard heaved, annoyed the Council's unwillingness to listen to him. He looked at both Anderson and Udina, hoping for some support, but found only inscrutable faces staring back at him in deathly silence. He was alone. But he knew anything else he said would simply go upon deaf ears. But, he still had a bone to toss out...

"Wait. Before you go, you should see this." Shepard took out a datapad. "I will upload the full schematics of a Reaper which my team discovered on the Collector base for all of you to examine in your spare time. Have your experts look at it. If you believe that Sovereign was a geth creation, well, these schematics should allow you to arrive at an alternative conclusion."

The asari councilor blinked, mildly surprised by Shepard's last-minute gesture. "Very well, Shepard. We will take a look at those 'schematics' and formulate a conclusion within a few days. We will contact your ship when we are finished. Good day to you all."

With that, the holograms of the three councilors disappeared into thin air.

"Damn it. I had hoped we would have convinced them enough!" Shepard turned away from the holographic projectors in dismay. He raised his arm, shaking an angry finger at Udina. "And you were supposed to be backing me up!"

"Shepard, you hardly understand the pressure I am under! Even as a councilor, there are risks..." Udina fumed. Shepard would never understand.

Shepard lowered his arm, but his anger remained. He looked into Udina's eyes, in hopes that they would betray Udina's thoughts. "You are a coward, Udina. A coward. A man who would rather let millions perish than to risk his status. You are no leader. I regret ever nominating you for the post of Councilor!"

Udina clenched his fists, yet he said nothing. Shepard's accusations had cowed him into silence.

Anderson quickly stepped in between the two men, facing Shepard and shaking a finger at him. "That's enough, Shepard! I am annoyed by the Council's actions myself, but there is absolutely no excuse for you to treat a member of the Council like that. Hannah would be ashamed of your behavior!"

Shepard's stomach lurched. Anderson had played his best card. He had mentioned how his mother, a current captain in the Alliance Navy, would be ashamed of him. She probably would be.

Shepard looked up and glared at Anderson, scowling a little. In face of chastisement from Anderson, he had lost his voice. No one else in the room spoke.

After a minute, Shepard roused himself to speak. He broke off eye contact with Anderson. "I'm sorry, Admiral, Councilor. I... I got carried away," he said in a half-embarrassed tone. He had allowed his emotions to betray the stoic-like demeanor he maintained at all times... but these were far from normal times.

Anderson lowered his arm and turned away. "Shepard, there is no reason to lose hope yet. I used those same schematics to convince Udina," the admiral remarked quietly.

"Absolutely," chimed Udina. "Anderson is right, Shepard. Those schematics are perhaps the only reason which convinced me to convene this meeting in the first place. The Council simply does not want to jump into conclusions without the backing of solid proof first. These are dangerous times – the Council can't simply send its fleet willy-nilly to confront a threat that possibly might not exist!" Udina exclaimed.

Shepard looked at the two men. "But, you guys believe me, right?" The anger in his voice subsided slightly.

Anderson nodded. "Of course, Shepard. We are behind you one hundred percent."

Udina turned away from the holographic projectors to face Shepard. "But, given your ties with Cerberus... it is dangerous for us to actually grant you anything beyond peripheral support. Material support is out of the question at this point."

"Udina, you do raise an interesting point – Shepard, haven't I warned you about Cerberus? Are you still associating yourself with them?" Anderson rubbed his chin.

"Yes, Admiral, but Cerberus has given me the resources which the Council have refused me! And they acknowledge the existence of the Reapers!" Shepard felt betrayed. Here, in this room, the two authority figures he felt he could still trust were doubting him.

"You should be lucky the Council has decided not to arrest you for treason, Shepard," replied Udina coolly. "But, regardless of this, we cannot lobby the Alliance to help you, either, Shepard. They know about your ties with Cerberus, but have simply refused to act out of acknowledgment of your impressive military record."

"The Alliance is still paranoid about Cerberus?" Miranda asked. Shepard looked at his deputy. It was the first time since they had all arrived at Anderson's office that she spoke.

"Absolutely... Ms... err..." Udina began, uncertain of the identity of the woman before him.

"Lawson. Miranda Lawson," she finished for him.

Udina looked at Miranda's uniform, noting the Cerberus insignia on it. "And you are a Cerberus operative, I presume?"

"Yes," replied Miranda drily. "But that doesn't matter. Cerberus wants to see the Reapers gone, too."

Udina heaved. He didn't know what sort of political damage that could be done if it were revealed in the papers that he, a member of the Council, was found speaking to a Cerberus operative within the very confines of the Presidium, but it didn't matter at this point. And of course, he, Donnel Udina, had a knack for getting the papers to shut up about things they weren't supposed to be reporting about...

"Shepard." Anderson turned his gaze towards Shepard once again, while casting a suspicious look at Miranda. "I know Cerberus can do things for you that we can't, but you still can't trust them. I hope you are making the right choices here. I know they bought you back from the dead, but they are using you, Shepard. I am certain of it. You are nothing more than a tool to them. You need to stay independent." The Admiral folded his arms and began pacing.

"I know, Admiral, but given the circumstances, I don't have much choice," Shepard fumed. Udina's reactions can be easily explained by his fear of any negative repercussions, but Anderson's nagging about Cerberus particularly annoyed him. Couldn't he see the bigger picture here?

"Well," Udina said gravely, "There isn't much else to discuss, is there? If we get wind of anything, I am certain that Anderson will pass it onto you, given his position as Admiral in the Alliance Navy and his regular access to military intelligence. But, Shepard, until the Reapers begin their attack on this galaxy, there will remain a significant pool of doubt about their existence amongst both the Council, and to a degree, the Alliance."

"Well said, Udina. Good luck, Shepard," Anderson said.

"Thank you, Admiral, Councilor. Keep me updated on any ongoing developments," Shepard said with forced politeness as he walked out of Anderson's office, with both Miranda and Mordin by his side.

* * *

"So, how was your meeting with the Council?" Garrus took a bite of food paste.

"Awful. Anderson managed to get Udina to believe me, and he called for a meeting with the Council, but they still don't believe me. I gave them the schematics to Harbinger, and they simply told me that they would 'look into it'." Shepard stabbed into a slice of meat loaf with a fork. He was sorely disappointed by how poorly the day had gone for him. Certainly, it was one thing for the Council to doubt him again, for they always had, but to hear Anderson chastise him so harshly about Cerberus dismayed him deeply.

"Well, decisions still need to made, Commander. I was hoping you would be telling us what to do next?" Jacob said. He took another sip of water.

The three of them were having dinner. The Normandy had been docked at the Citadel for nearly a week, yet Shepard remained indecisive on what to do next. The Illusive Man had yet to relay any new information regarding the mysterious Reaper they had heard about from the hanar military patrol which they had encountered a few days ago, and of course, the Council wasn't exactly helpful in providing any direction either.

"Well, the next logical step would be to gather allies, I suppose. I suggest we pay another visit to the Migrant Fleet to convince the quarians not to blow themselves up in front of the geth," Garrus said. "I am certain Tali would make a good argument to them for that."

"Quarians look like they are in complete disarray," Jacob observed, shaking his head. "Some of them want to make peace; some of them want to make war... It's going to be messy. And we might have to have to clean it up."

"I don't mind cleaning up. I just hope their fleet is ready against the Reapers." Shepard spooned into his soup with such force that some of it splashed onto the table. "Oh, damn it," he groaned, reaching for a napkin to clean it up.

As he cleaned up his little mess, the mention of Tali's name laid a weight upon Shepard's chest. He knew Tali still had not quite forgiven him for his brief liaison with Ashley Williams the other day. That needed to be rectified. That said, Ashley was still on the ship, and would leave in a few days for Arcturus Station...

* * *

"Zorah?" Tali saw the krogan Grunt approaching her on the engineering deck. She turned away from the console to face him. Despite having killed many krogan during the course of her travels, the immense size of krogan have always intimidated her somewhat.

"Oh, hi, Grunt. I am rather surprised to see you. What brings you here?" Tali had never seen Grunt venture out of his quarters in the Port Cargo Area before.

"I have a message from someone important. He wants a yes or no answer." Grunt handed Tali a lavender tulip with a note attached to it. Tali took the flower with trembling hands and read the attached note:

_Dear Tali,_

_Again, I am sorry._

_Would you like to join me tonight?_

_I love you. _

_Shepard_

Tali's heart warmed a little, despite the note's brevity. Her confidence in Shepard was restored – almost. "Thank you, Grunt. Tell Shepard that I said yes."

* * *

Thane Krios rarely ever ventured beyond the confines of the Normandy's life support systems. To him, the faint hum of machinery was peace to his ears. He spent most of his time meditating, but he would occasionally rise from his chair to examine the books of the Normandy's library behind him.

Thane found books – in particular, history books, to be fascinating, for the drell had no need to write down their history. Memories can passed from one generation to the next with only the touch of a hand. Memories written on paper could be distorted at will by malice and bigotry, but the memories of one's mind are absolute and unchanging...

During this particular night, Thane found his concentration lacking. No, he could not meditate tonight. Instead, he rose from his chair, and plucked a volume from the shelf behind him. It was entitled A _22__nd__ Century Perspective on the Battle of the Somme_, by a certain M. Yass.

Thane laid the volume upon the desk, sat down, and began to read the book's introduction:

_Conflict, given the human condition, is almost universal. Wars, battles, and skirmishes are merely a reflection of it. However, there comes time in our history when conflict boils over into a battle so horrifying, bloody, and terrible that its name is used as a metaphor to describe the tragedy of conflict itself..._

Thane could not disagree with the author's sentiment. Intrigued, he skipped both the introduction and the first chapter, continuing on into the second chapter, entitled _The First Day_. Thane skimmed through the chapter, going through the details almost in an absent-minded manner, before a sentence on the last page caught his eye:

_The British, for all of their limited successes on the first day, suffered nearly sixty thousand casualties. Of all the battalions which took part that day, the 1__st__ Newfoundland Regiment suffered the greatest loss. Five hundred out of eight-hundred and one men were killed. _

Thane closed the book, disinclined to continue reading it any further. The book relayed nothing new to him. No doubt, the remainder of the book would do no more than detail the number of deaths or casualties inflicted on either side. The author of the book, far from providing that much needed "twenty-second century perspective" had been reduced to merely listing troop movements, re-publishing diary entries from the period, and providing casualty numbers. No true perspective can be properly provided by simply doing that.

Thane knew little about the history of the humans before reading this book. Whoever was ruling Earth then were foolish. They didn't need to sacrifice the lives of hundreds of thousands of young men – much less five hundred young men from the same place – to achieve their ends. An assassin's bullet in the right place would have sufficed...

Thane stood up. He picked up the book to return it to its place on the shelf, but paused briefly to look at its front cover. A group of soldiers were running across a decrepit landscape cratered by artillery, ostensibly facing enemy machine-guns. No doubt, many of these soldiers were young... perhaps not as young as he was when he made his first kill, but young, nonetheless...

Thane sighed as he put the book back on the shelf. These soldiers were just like him. Surrendering their youth for one conflict, and spending their manhood coming to terms with it. In Thane's case, he had surrendered both this youth and his manhood to conflict, and his reconciliation with the past remains incomplete. The image of dead soldiers putrefying in some dirty trench made him even more determined to ensure that Kolyat will not tread upon the path that he trod.

_Conflict is a terrible thing_, he realized. _And I once had helped facilitate it_.

* * *

Ashley Williams sat on her bunk bed in the crew's quarters of the Normandy SR-2, peering outside the window into the bright lights on the Citadel. In a few days, her leave would be ending, and she would go back to resume the life of a marine on Arcturus Station.

Such a life was a dull one, dominated largely by either guard duty or drills. She was envious of the Normandy's crew, for they would not be performing guard duty or drills. In a few days after she leaves, they would shoot off for the stars, to engage an ancient enemy beyond comprehension, while she, despite all of her military training, would remain behind, guarding a room on Arcturus Station that no one would ever bother breaking into...

Ashley then turned her mind's attention to the events of yesterday. She had let Shepard go without so much of a fight after he ultimately chose Tali. But then again, she forced him to choose...

She sighed. Was she unworthy of Shepard's continued devotion? Did she lack something attractive that Tali had?

The door to the crew's quarters opened. Ashley stood up. It was Shepard, dressed in his pajamas.

"Oh, hey!" she greeted.

Shepard smiled. "Hey, Ash. I was wondering about something..."

"Yes?"

"Would you like to join the crew? Anderson just sent me an e-mail saying that he could transfer you out of your unit on Arcturus Station and have you here by my side."

Ashley felt like whooping at that point, but managed to retain her composure. No more guard duty on Arcturus. "Of course! Anything is better than going back to Arcturus. Tell Anderson I would be happy to have a transfer."

"Very well," Shepard answered. "I'll make sure Anderson knows. It's nice to have you back, Ash. At any rate, Kelly Chambers will be interviewing you shortly."

Ashley crossed her arms in defiance, appearing mildly offended. "Kelly who? Why does she need to interview me? Haven't I proven myself to you already two years ago? Fighting Saren and the geth and whatnot?"

"Relax," Shepard laughed. "Kelly is our ship's official... counselor. She maintains a psychological profile of everyone on the ship. Making sure that people get help before they get crack."

"Why?" Ashley rolled her eyes. "I've endured a lot, and I still have yet to crack. Isn't that part of the job description?" The old Normandy never had a counselor on board.

"Well, it's just part of Cerberus protocol..."

Ashley grimaced. "Oh right. Cerberus."

* * *

Astoria T'Gra's eyes starred blankly into the hazy mist through a window in a guard post on the planet Nepyma. The dust storm outside had been raging for hours. Despite the poor visibility, she could still see that the star was sinking westwards. A setting star connoted that her shift would be coming to an end very shortly, and that a colleague would soon arrive to relieve her. She sighed, and stretched arms in the direction of the sky.

Ever since she joined the military two years ago, Astoria was certain she would be destined for greatness, a greatness cultivated out of constant contact with the danger and uncertainty that most soldiers would face during the course of their careers. Much to her dismay, she was mistaken. Shortly after training, she was posted to a garrison planet, where she has remained ever since, patrolling the dusty dunes around base.

Nepyma was one of those garrison planets. The Army of the Republic of Illium had stationed both ships and soldiers here a number of years ago, ostensibly to keep an eye out for roving pirate bands from the Terminus Systems and to guard the mines here from attack. But, naturally, pirates are far smarter than they look, so they tend to avoid traversing the space around Nepyma for this very reason.

Nepyma, being plentiful in minerals, was also home to a small mining colony called Minerra Incognita, which lay a few kilometers away from the base. It was home to a few thousand civilians and a number of asari mining corporations. Most of the residents were quarians on Pilgrimage, trying to earn enough money to go home. T'Gra knew that the mining conglomerates were actively exploiting these quarians by underpaying them and forcing them to work extremely long hours, but, what could a soldier do?

Astoria picked up her rifle and turned away from the window. Perhaps she should put her mask on and finish her guard duty outside? The initial stirring of a dust storm in the distance gave her shift some early excitement, but that sense of excitement had extinguished itself many hours ago. There was nothing ominous about the howling gales outside. Astoria and her fellow soldiers were fighting boredom more than anything.

Astoria grabbed her respiratory mask and slung her rifle over her shoulder before resting it upon her back. She never got used to the smell of vulcanized rubber emanating from the mask, but she put it on nonetheless and headed outside. It was stifling outside, at over thirty degrees centigrade. The harsh desert wind blew sand on her exposed neck at regular intervals, giving the impression that someone – or something – was tickling her neck. _They should really redesign these masks_, she mused. The standard-issue respiratory masks protected her face and eyes, but it offered no protection for neither her neck nor the back of her head.

Astoria looked at the exterior of her guard post. It was an ugly, angular building, constructed mainly from concrete. Concrete and other building materials had to be shipped to Nepyma, for there was a lack of readily available construction materials on the planet. There was no one besides her manning this particular post, but a small number of other soldiers were all manning solitary posts of their own in a concentric ring around the base. She then turned eyes upon the setting star. In the distance, lightning could be seen. The sound of thunder roared a little bit later. _Odd_, she thought. _It almost never rains here..._

Astoria's radio crackled. "Weird. You girls hear that thunder?" She recognized the voice. It belonged to her sergeant.

"Yeah," came a reply.

"Almost never rains here," chimed another voice.

The dust storm began to subside. Astoria took off her respiratory mask and looked in the direction where the thunder was coming from. A dark cloud was approaching. Yet, it didn't quite look like a cloud... The shape of it was too distinct for it to be one.

Astoria squinted her eyes, trying to get a better look at this cloud... Another twenty seconds passed before she realized that it wasn't a cloud. She reached for her radio.

"Err... Sergeant?"

"Yes, Private T'Gra? What is it?"

"I am observing a large vessel about a few thousand meters from my post. I think it was the source of the thunder we heard earlier."

"Err... T'Gra, I see nothing on my radar," the sergeant replied.

"Sergeant, I see what T'Gra is talking about. It does look like a ship of some kind," another voice quipped on the radio.

"Okay, I'll send a squad to check it out. Everyone, stay at your posts. I'm relaying this to command."

Astoria starred at the ship, mesmerized by its appearance and its lack of context._ Why would such a ship be doing here?_ Ships rarely ever landed on this planet. She had seen nothing like this before. It resembled a cuttlefish and appeared to be the largest ship she had ever seen.

The unidentified ship fired a blue beam a light directly at the base. The munitions dump exploded with great ferocity in particular. Fires were breaking out all across the base. Astoria lost her balance as the earth shook. As soon as she re-oriented herself, she reached for her radio.

"Sergeant!" she yelled into the radio. "Anybody...?"

There was no response, save the omni-present static. The ship continued its approach towards the devastated base. Seeing no recourse, Astoria grabbed her rifle and helmet and got into the driver's seat of an armored personal carrier nearby. She started the engine and sped away towards Minerra Incognita.

* * *

Shepard heard the sound of a door opening behind him. He turned around. "Tali?" he whispered.

Tali emerged from the shadows cast near the door. "Shepard. You wanted to talk to me?"

Shepard stood up from his chair. "Yes, Tali. I believe you got my message?"

"Yes. Thank you for the flower. I've never seen a flower before – what kind is it?" Though Shepard could not see through the quarian's helmet, he was certain that she was smiling.

Shepard motioned Tali to come over to his bed. She followed. The two sat down next to each other on the edge of the bed.

"It's a tulip. It's a flower native to a place called Holland on Earth. A flower shop on the Citadel had some imports, so I thought I snag you one."

Tali beamed. "Oh, how thoughtful of you! I would love to visit this 'Holland' with you sometime after... well... you know... the Reapers are gone..."

Shepard sighed. "I can't lie to you, Tali, but if we were to go, it would probably be my first time on Earth."

Tali appeared miffed. There were still things about Shepard that she didn't know. "You weren't born on Earth?" she asked.

"No. I was born on a starship. My parents were in the Alliance Navy, and given that, I lived most of my life – well practically all of it on various Alliance ships," Shepard replied. "I was perhaps among the first generation of humans to be born on a starship.

"Oh, I see. Well, we probably have something in common, then," Tali replied. Shepard suddenly remembered. Quarians spent most of their lives on starships too.

The two of them sat in the silence for a few minutes. "Shepard," Tali began, "I've heard from Kasumi that Ashley is staying with us."

Shepard loathed the direction that the conversation was taking. "She is," he replied as laconically as possible.

"I respect your decision to include her as part of our crew again, but I don't want-" Tali began.

Shepard interrupted her. "I understand your concerns. No, you will not be sharing me with Ashley. But, I did invite her to stay with us because she is a woman of exceptional talent. We need people like her in this upcoming war, Tali. I hope you remember how adept she is with an assault rifle?" he said soothingly.

"I do. I do." Tali peered up into the glass ceiling, staring at the stars above, as if trying to read them.

Shepard peered upwards as well, doing the same.

The future may be difficult to read, but he was determined to make it right.


	8. Divergence

**Mass Effect: The End**

**Chapter Eight: Divergence**

Liara T'Soni's head throbbed as she began to regain consciousness. Her body was lying prone upon a mattress of some kind. She could sense darkness beyond her closed eyelids. She certainly wasn't at home; for this mattress was far too lumpy to be her own. And she always kept a light on at night.

_What was the last thing that happened to me?_

Despite a headache, the words Suite 6606 jumped to her mind.

_Oh yes... that. _

Liara rose into a sitting position and opened her eyes.

Although she was not quite the woman who would succumb to horror, it suddenly dawned upon her that she was being imprisoned against her will. The sight of metal bars and a bare room greeted Liara's eyes.

The sound of footsteps resonated in the distance. Liara's limbs tightened.

A dark figure appeared on the other side of the bars. Shadows obscured his face.

"Liara T'Soni," the figure began in a deep voice. "One day, we knew you would finally fall for one of our traps."

"You work for the Shadow Broker," Liara whispered. Her eyes narrowed. "And this is his lair."

"Very good," the figure replied. "You are far more... perceptive than we had thought."

"I am more perceptive than that," she retorted. "The Shadow Broker will be dead by the end of this week." She stood up besides the mattress.

"I'd like to see you try that," the figure said. "But, that seems... unlikely, given your current state."

As the dark figure moved away from Liara's cell, Liara saw the key to her salvation before her.

A computer lay a few meters away from the door to her cell.

_If I could just send a message..._

Liara raised her arm. It gave off a soft, blue glow. Biotics were inefficient at manipulating small objects, but she must try.

For her sake. For Feron's sake. For Shepard's sake.

On that last thought, she mustered all her powers of concentration. _Almost there..._

* * *

Astoria T'Gra saw the colony in the distance as she drove the APC towards it.

The colony appeared to be unscathed from the attack. Astoria saw a few quarians and an asari milling around upon the road. She killed the engine and climbed out of the driver's hatch. An asari was approaching the APC.

"Hey, you one of the soldiers from the base?" she asked. "What happened? Our communications have been cut."

"Yeah," Astoria replied. "I don't know what happened, but we are under attack, as far as I know, from that thing over there." She pointed in the direction of the large cuttlefish-shaped starship floating over the devastated base in the distance.

"Well," the asari began in hushed tones, "I could tell that much with my own two eyes. Are there any other soldiers with you?"

Astoria shook her head. "No. As far as I can tell, I'm probably the only survivor."

"I see," the asari said, rubbing her chin. "I'm a director for the Illium Development Corporation here." She pointed in the direction of the mines in the distance. "Shortly after the shockwave hit the colony, the entrance to one of the copper mines collapsed, trapping approximately twenty miners inside. We've managed to evacuate all the other mines, but..."

"We have to get them out, then." Astoria walked towards the APC.

"Of course, but re-establishing communications is paramount. I've tried contacting my superiors, the military, everybody, but I can't get through to anybody! Shouldn't someone have noticed already that Nepyma has fallen out of contact?" the asari director cried in frustration.

Astoria turned around to face the somewhat panicked director. "Look, ma'am, we'll try to get those miners out first, and then we'll try to re-establish communications and get to the root of this. Get in, everyone." She motioned to the APC behind her.

"Uh, ma'am?" one of the quarians began. "There's something in the distance."

Astoria turned around. A horde of insect-like creatures toting assault rifles were headed their way.

"Shit. Everyone! Get into the APC! Go, go, go!" Astoria fired a few rounds from her assault rifle at the incoming horde. A few in the horde were picked off, but their numbers were great, and Astoria was only one soldier. Seeing little recourse, Astoria then immediately climbed into the driver's hatch. The asari director and the quarians hastily piled themselves into the back of the APC. As soon as all the doors were shut, she started the engine and sped away towards the colony.

* * *

"Commander!" Shepard saw Kelly Chambers approaching him from behind on the crew deck. She had a datapad in her hands.

Shepard flashed a brief smile in her direction. "Oh, Kelley. Good morning. You have something for me?"

Kelly nodded and quickened her pace to match that of her Commander's. "Yes... You have several unread messages in your inbox, and the Illusive Man would like to meet you in the communications room as soon as you are able. Are you headed for the mess hall as well?"

"Yeah, I'm starving. How did the interview with Chief Williams go?"

Kelly 's eyes narrowed somewhat. "Well, it went along fine for the most part, but I feel that deep down, something is clearly bothering her. And it doesn't seem that she's willing to reveal what that exactly is."

Shepard raised his eyebrows. "Really? The woman speaks her mind all the damn time. She can be quite snarky at times, too."

"Well, maybe she's not so open with strangers. I mean, I just got acquainted with her yesterday and have seen her around the ship a few times before that, so she might not be so willing to talk to a person like myself about these matters," Kelley replied sheepishly.

"Yeah, well, it's probably because you remind her of somebody from the insane asylum..." Shepard chuckled.

Kelly gave Shepard a mildly annoyed stare. "Well, I don't think it's because of that. Most people do tend to keep feelings to themselves, Shepard."

The pair arrived at the mess hall. A few of the Normandy's crew members were already seated there, seemingly eager for their breakfast. "Gardner!" Shepard said to the mess sergeant. "What do you have for us today?"

"Oatmeal," the mess sergeant replied laconically. He poured another packet of instant oatmeal into a pot of boiling water and stirred.

"Again?" Hawthorne asked increduously. "We've been eating oatmeal for the last two days! What happened to those scrambled eggs?"

Gardner sighed. "I told you, Hawthorne, we are out of eggs," he said tersely.

"Hawthorne, you can't boil water to save your life. Be lucky you have someone to actually cook for you," Goldstein, another crewmember, replied.

Hawthorne slammed his spoon onto the table. "Shit, I wished we had an AI cook for us. At least we might be able to program it to cook the meals that we want."

"Hawthorne, can you please shut up? It's too early for this," Shepard said in an annoyed tone. He was astounded to hear a grown man whining over breakfast like a spoiled child.

Hawthorne looked up, somewhat surprised to see his Commander chastising him. "Oh, sorry, Commander, didn't mean to piss in your coffee this morning-"

Shepard rolled his eyes. "You already did, Hawthorne. Good job. But really, can't you just lay off Gardner for once? I saw you putting him down the first time I toured this area of the ship."

"Well, Commander," Kelly interjected, "Going over Hawthorne's complaint, I can agree with him somewhat. Better food does constitute better morale, and thus, better performance in the field. Therefore, I do vouch for more 'heartier' food on this ship... but I'll stick with oatmeal personally, thank you."

"Afraid of getting fat, are you, Chambers?" Goldstein chuckled. "My girlfriend's like that all the frickin' time – 'Oh, we can't have that, it has too much fat in it' – blah, blah, blah..."

"What?" Kelly exclaimed. "Is there something wrong with someone being concerned for her well-being? When has it become a crime to decline food?"

"Oh, and what lively debates are we having this morning? More meaningless banter about Gardner's poor cooking, I suppose?" Miranda Lawson appeared out of her office and seated herself besides Kelly in the mess hall.

She then turned and nodded in Shepard's direction. "Good morning, Commander," she said in a somewhat offhanded manner. She then yawned.

"Good morning, Miranda. How's my XO doing today?"

"A little tired, but ready for action, as always, Commander." She gave Shepard a weak smile.

"Good. Because the Illusive Man is probably going to give us another assignment soon. I'm going to meet him in the comm room after breakfast."

"I see," Miranda replied. She eyed Shepard warily. "You suppose he has finally discovered that 'rogue' Reaper that we encountered last week?"

"Maybe. I think so, because otherwise, why would he be contacting me?" Shepard said.

"Here's your oatmeal, guys." Gardner put several bowls of hot oatmeal on the table.

Everyone hungrily grabbed a bowl of oatmeal for him or herself, and breakfast finally began in earnest.

"Ugh." Kelly grimaced as she chewed a spoonful of oatmeal. "I think this oatmeal is way past its expiration date."

Hawthorne shrugged. "I'll give Gardner some credit this time. Sorry for all the bitching I did this morning. All this oatmeal needs is... some more sugar!" He reached for the basket of sugar packets on the table.

Goldstein sighed. "And you had to make a ruckus this morning over nothing."

"Be quiet," Shepard snapped, looking up from his bowl of oatmeal. He raised his finger. "All of you."

"As you say, Commander," Goldstein quickly replied. He returned to his oatmeal.

* * *

After breakfast, Shepard headed for the Comm Room. He pressed a button to retract the conference table.

"EDI," Shepard ordered. "Patch me through to the Illusive Man."

"_Will do, Shepard_," the AI responded. "_Patching you to the Illusive Man... now_."

The Comm Room disappeared. In the distance, in the backdrop of a dying star, the Illusive Man reclined lazily on his chair, sipping a glass of whiskey.

"So, you called for me?" Shepard asked.

The Illusive Man leaned forward and placed the glass on his armrest. "Shepard, we just caught a lucky break. My sources tell me the mysterious Reaper you encountered last week has attacked the mining colony of Nepyma."

Shepard stepped forward, intrigued. "Is it still there?"

"Well, my information is a few hours old, but by any indication, the Reaper is probably still there, in orbit around the planet. A handful of asari vessels nearby managed to disable it, but not before being destroyed themselves by the Reaper. Its attack crippled communications on the surface and wiped out a military base operated by the Army of the Republic of Illium. Casualties are unknown at this point, but are likely to be high."

The Illusive Man then stood up, and turned around to observe the red giant behind him. He took another draught of whiskey as he did so.

"Shepard, I want you to capture this Reaper and bring it to one of my scientific teams operating out in orbit near the planet Pharos, in the Artemis Tau cluster. I believe I have mentioned this objective to you already, but just in case you forgot, I am saying it again."

"Is it wise to try and capture a live Reaper? I do hope you remember what happened to one of your science teams when they boarded that derelict Reaper a little while back," Shepard challenged.

"Shepard, are you telling me that I don't learn from my own mistakes?" the Illusive Man asked.

"You don't seem to be the man who learns from his mistakes," Shepard shot back.

The Illusive Man waved his hand, as if trying to cast Shepard's doubts away. "Don't worry. We've finally learned how to disable the mechanism responsible for indoctrination. I sent another science team to that derelict Reaper shortly after you got the IFF. We've learned a little more about them since then... but a live specimen would help us advance our research to the next level."

Shepard gave the Illusive Man a wary look. "What about the asari? Haven't they sent out more ships to investigate what has happened to their colony?"

"For the moment, I have been feeding them false reports. But they are bound to investigate sooner or later. You need to get there as quickly as possible, Shepard."

"Very well," Shepard replied. "You'll get your Reaper."

"Excellent. Just what I want to hear. Good luck out there, Shepard." The Illusive Man cut his link, and the Comm Room came back into focus. Shepard then left the Comm Room. He would convene a meeting with the crew later.

* * *

Ekaterina Vist looked to her left. An empty trading desk greeted her eyes. She looked at her omni-tool. Goldman's best CDS trader still wasn't here yet, and markets would be opening in a few minutes. She then stood up from her chair and scanned the trading floor. Everyone was here... well, except for Liara.

Ekaterina last saw Liara two days ago, as she left the elevator at Augustus Heights. Where was she, exactly? She didn't seem to be type who would miss work.

Ekaterina then sat down and checked her email. Her eyes widened as she went through her inbox.

Ekaterina's eyes darted from her computer to the phone on her desk. In her hesitation, she paused, but she eventually picked up the receiver and dialed...

* * *

The Normandy's crew members filed into the Comm Room quietly and discreetly, in reflection of their stoic professionalism. Shepard had called them here, to discuss his meeting with the Illusive Man.

There were no chairs in the Comm Room, so everyone merely assumed standing positions along the edge of the retractable conference table. Many would inquire why the Comm Room would require such a table in the first place, since no one ever takes notes during such meetings. But, nonetheless, the table remains, serving some sort of aesthetic purpose for what would be otherwise, a completely bare and sterile room.

Shepard stood near the front of the room, arms folded, eyes focused. As soon as the last stragglers had taken their places by the table and the automatic door had shut itself, Shepard, at last, spoke.

"As some of you may recall, a 'rogue' Reaper of sorts was discovered by hanar ships last week. And now, thanks to the Illusive Man, we have located this Reaper, which is currently in orbit around the mining colony of Nepyma, not too far away from Illium." Shepard then motioned his arm towards the center of the room.

A virtual galaxy appeared out of thin air and then zoomed in on the planet Nepyma.

"Cerberus wants this Reaper. I am personally not so sure if we should give it to them, but I'll wait to see how this one pans out."

Shepard gave a brief pause, to allow his last statement to sink in the crew's minds. Most of the crew members' faces were inscrutable, but he could tell that many were agreeing with him.

"We will leave the Citadel immediately and proceed to Nepyma. It is imperative that we investigate this." Shepard looked up. "EDI!" he cried.

The AI responded in its usual tone, one marked by measured evenness. "_Yes, Shepard?_"

"Tell Joker to hit the nearest mass relay and set a course for Nepyma."

"_Of course, Shepard._"

"Well, that's it. Any questions?" Shepard scanned the room, looking at his crew members.

Jacob Taylor raised his hand. "Commander, are you sure we can take on a Reaper all by ourselves? I mean, without any outside assistance..."

"We must try. Besides, that's what our Thanix cannons are for." Shepard faced Garrus. "Garrus, I trust you that the guns are battle-ready?"

"The guns are fully calibrated, Commander. They are itching to be fired. I daresay that they are in perfect working order," the turian replied confidently. Shepard gave Garrus a small smile. He knew how much time the turian spent working on calibrating those guns.

"Very well then! Crew dismissed!" The crew filed out of the room in the same dignified manner in which they had filed in.

The Comm Room was soon empty and the shuffling of feet in the corridor outside the room eventually subsided. But, just as Shepard prepared to leave himself, EDI's voice broke the silence.

"_Shepard?_"

"Yes, EDI?"

"_Someone calling from Illium would like to speak to you._"

Shepard gave off a puzzled look. _Could it be Liara_? He reached for a microphone on the conference table. "Ok, EDI, patch the call through." A female voice rang out on the line. It wasn't Liara's.

"Hello. Is this Commander Shepard?"

"Yes," Shepard replied. "Who is this?"

"My name is Ekaterina Vist, and I work at Goldman Sachs Illium. We both have a mutual acquaintance with a certain Liara T'Soni, am I correct?"

"Correct. She once worked for me. Is this call about her?"

"Yes, but unfortunately, I cannot speak too freely at the moment. Can you meet me outside the Goldman Sachs building in Illium in a few hours?"

"Is it urgent?" Shepard scowled. The Reaper at Nepyma was pressing on his mind.

"Well, let's say that Liara is in deep danger as we speak. From the Shadow Broker. She sent a message to me this morning saying so and asked me to contact you." Shepard's heart skipped a beat upon those words. _Liara? In danger? He must act now_.

Shepard put a hand on his forehead and closed his eyes. "Ok, I'll try to meet you outside the...?"

"...Goldman Sachs building." Ekaterina finished for him. "Please hurry. I think Liara is in some mortal danger, and I can't do much from this trading desk."

"Ok, thank you, Ms. Vist."

"No," Ekaterina retorted. "Thank you, Commander Shepard." She then hung up.

* * *

Miranda was seated inside her office, typing out a report for the Illusive Man. She looked at her omni-tool. The trip to Nepyma would take a few more hours. Her back was stiff. She needed to stretch.

She stretched her arms. All that typing had stiffened her entire body. She stood up and paced around her office, simply to loosen herself a little. She then looked out the window, glazing her eyes upon the stars beyond which formed the backdrop of her office window's view. And then, the thought struck her. _What was out there, really?_

Miranda subscribed to no religion, although she had studied the subject in school. But, yet, despite an aversion to the supernatural, Miranda never quite rejected the deist notion that someone, or something created the universe, or at minimum, created the pre-conditions on which a universe was able to rise into order out of nothingness and chaos. She didn't believe in God per se, but nonetheless, no being or race has ever managed to come to terms with the reason for their existence without first turning to fantastical thought.

She then turned away from the window and sat down by her desk. The report needed to be completed by tonight, but Miranda lacked the energy to finish it. _It could wait_. Looking down upon the landscape of paper and datapads which adorned her desk, a picture of Oriana came into focus.

Miranda scarcely knew the girl, yet she had made it her duty from the moment the girl was born to protect her from her father. _When was the last time she had seen her_? _Oh yes_. About six weeks ago, in Illium.

It had been an awkward meeting. Revelations were revealed upon one another, with the next one seemingly more logic-bending than the last. Oriana was never even aware that she ever had a sister. Nor was she even aware that the people she regarded as her "parents" weren't really her biological parents. Yet, Miranda admired the way that Oriana took it all in with a brave face and an aura of forced calmness.

The door opened. Miranda looked up from Oriana's picture. It was Shepard.

"Ah. Shepard. Please, have a seat." The Normandy's XO straightened herself and sat up in her chair.

Shepard seated himself and looked at his XO in the eye. Miranda blinked. Shepard's forced stare gave off an aura of seriousness that she thought the man was never even capable of. She never liked forced stares from anyone, much less her commanding officer. "Miranda," began Shepard, "I need a favor from you. A big one."

Miranda crossed her arms. "Go on. And I suppose that I don't have much of a say in this, so this isn't really a favor?"

"You could say that. Well, this may constitute a brief breach of the conservative practices on this ship..."

"Can we cut to the chase, so to speak?" Miranda asked curtly.

Shepard reclined backwards on his chair. "I've received news that Liara T'Soni has been captured by the Shadow Broker. I need to go to Illium at once." Shepard took a breath. "And well, since you are XO, I'm putting you in charge of the ship until I get back. You will be overseeing the operation on Nepyma."

Miranda batted her eyebrows. It was an unusual request. "Me? Take control of this ship? I... Couldn't you dispatch a team to Illium and let them deal with it? I mean, this is a _Reaper_ that we will be dealing with shortly..."

Shepard shook his head. "Miranda, you led a squad during the assault on the Collector base. Why isn't commanding a starship any different? I express complete confidence in your leadership abilities."

Miranda was slightly flattered by Shepard's compliment, but of course, it was the truth, or at least a partial one. She did lead a team of four on a successful attack on the Collector base. She had successfully led the team who bought the man sitting before her back from the dead. Yet, she couldn't imagine capturing a Reaper without the direction or leadership of someone like Shepard. She simply felt... unworthy to take the reins away from the man who has held them for so long.

But, nonetheless, her Commander was calling on her lead. It was duty that must be fulfilled. She would never shirk away from a duty.

"Very well, Shepard." Her eyes narrowed. "Do I have immediate command of the Normandy at this point?"

Shepard's eyes brightened. "Yes, Miranda."

Miranda stood up. "If that is the case, then I need to go to the CIC. I'll send Patel to help you pilot the Kodiak. Now, if you would excuse me..."

She walked out of her office. Shepard left the office shortly after she did. Now, he needed to pluck Garrus and Tali away from their posts for this excursion...

* * *

To Garrus Vakarian, the heart and soul of the Normandy belonged in the Main Battery Room. Though he was certain that others, like Tali, would beg to disagree, the turian would have none of it. He spent much time in there, constantly calibrating the Normandy's main armament, a dual Thanix Cannon setup.

A product of turian engineering, the Thanix Cannon could accelerate a beam of molten metal at velocities close to the speed of light. A single shot could pierce any average starship's kinetic barriers and hull within a matter of seconds. Hence, this made the Thanix Cannon the perfect one hit, one kill brand of weapon. But, then again, it probably wouldn't kill a Reaper with one shot, though it would still be helpful to have one on hand.

The Thanix Cannon was pure, brute force. Like a pack of Krogan armed to the teeth, but yet, unlike a pack of Krogan, it could be controlled. It could fired upon the pinch of one's finger on the button.

_Brute force_. The only thing that will stop criminals. The only thing that will stop corrupt politicians from playing their silly games. The only thing that will stop the Reapers.

_Brute force_. Garrus loved the term.

The door opened behind him. "Garrus?" The turian turned around. Commander Shepard stood before him, decked out in his battle gear.

"Are we there yet, Shepard? I didn't imagine we would going Reaper-hunting so soon."

Shepard shook his head. "No. You, me, and Tali are going on a different mission."

The turian blinked. "What sort of mission?"

"We're going to rescue Liara from the Shadow Broker. We're taking the Kodiak to Illium."

Garrus huffed in contempt. "I am hardly surprised. She had it coming."

* * *

Tali'Zorah vas Normandy peered down upon the engineering console and examined it. Temperatures were within their normal limits. All systems were functioning correctly. They had to be, for they were facing a Reaper soon.

She walked away from the engineering console and towards the drive core. The drive core gave off an omnipresent dull whir, like the sound of a dragonfly's beating wings, which became only slightly more audible as Tali walked towards it. The relative silence of the drive core always evoked a sense of wonder within Tali's imagination every time she is near it. _How could something be this quiet and powerful all at the same time_? Even though she stood mere meters away from the the center of the drive core, it was barely audible.

The silence of the Normandy's drive core could only be contrasted by the loud rattling noises that the vessels of the Migrant Fleet usually made.

_The Migrant Fleet..._

Though Tali was loathe to admit it, she was deeply homesick. Whether this homesickness was caused by boredom or a true desire to return home, she did not know. The Normandy was a far more luxurious ship than the Neema, and she had Shepard on top of that, but yet, something was missing.

_Something was missing_.

"Tali!" someone yelled behind her. She recognized Shepard's voice and turned around to face him.

"Shepard!" She then looked at Garrus, who was standing besides Shepard. _What was he doing here?_ "Oh, Garrus, I..."

"Tali, you, me, and Garrus are going on a little excursion," Shepard said.

Tali studied Shepard's face, attempting to figure what was going on. "What sort of excursion...? I thought we had more pressing issues at hand..."

"This is a pressing issue. One of Liara's co-workers called. She has been captured by the Shadow Broker."

Tali's mind whirled. "Liara? Why is she suddenly relevant now?"

Shepard heaved. "I don't leave old squadmates behind, Tali. If you were in Liara's position, I wouldn't hesitate going to rescue you, either."

"Hmmph," Tali snorted. "But I suppose you wouldn't need someone to give you a heads up if I needed rescuing, right?" she teased.

"Of course not," Shepard said quickly. He wanted to pull away Tali's helmet and give her a kiss, but Garrus was nearby.

* * *

"Oh, Mordin," Kelly Chambers moaned. "I am so fucked up..." She attempted to stand up but couldn't, collapsing once again next to Mordin by the lab table. "Ugh..."

"Ah, Kelly, don't worry about it... Mission won't be beginning for another... few hours... Will have time to sober up..." Mordin said sluggishly as he drained another glass of batarian whiskey.

The pair were holed up in Mordin's laboratory, sitting on the floor by the lab table. The lab was a mess, littered with empty liquor bottles, broken lab equipment, and spilled liquor alike. The two had been drinking for hours. Mordin had several bottles of batarian whiskey in his medicine cabinet. Kelly had bought over some beer.

"Would care for some more whiskey?" Mordin poured another glass and offered it to Kelly.

"No... You can't make me... Professor... Remember... how you told me that alcohol kills liver cells...?" Kelly flailed her arms uselessly in the air, knocking the glass onto the floor, splashing whiskey all over herself and Mordin. "Hahaha..." she belched. She then dropped her arms and embraced Mordin with both a hug and a kiss. Mordin slid onto the floor, unable to push Kelly off.

"Oh, thank you... for the affection... but no need to be so... aggressive!"

Despite Mordin's pleas, Kelly gripped the salarian tighter in her drunken haze. "You have no idea how much I love you, Mordin... Let's make love together..." Using one hand, she reached for Mordin's trousers and gave him another deep kiss. Her breath reeked of alcohol.

Mordin had no recourse. Kelly was really about to sodomize him, albeit unknowingly. He kicked Kelly in the abdomen to free himself from her grip.

"Oww... shit! Why the fuck did you do that for?" Kelly rolled off Mordin, squirming in pain upon the floor and cursing. That allowed him to stand up for the first time in hours and observe chaotic scene which greeted his eyes. His lab was a pigsty. As he trudged towards the door, Mordin slipped on some spilled beer and fell. His vision blurred. Then, out of nowhere, Kelly punched him in the stomach.

"Oh... Kelly!" Mordin flinched in pain.

"And I thought you loved me!" Kelly sobbed hysterically. Her tears were dribbling all over Mordin's face. The woman had obviously lost all sense of reality. She gave a great sigh, collapsed onto the floor, and oddly enough, began to sleep.

The door to the laboratory opened.

"Dr. Solus?" It was Miranda's voice. "I have a strong inkling that something of note happened here."

"Sorry... Things merely got out of hand, Ms. Lawson. Please, get Kelly to the infirmary before she does any more damage. Strong little thing she is, especially when inebriated..." Mordin stood up, wiping beer off his uniform.

Miranda rolled her eyes, looking at the devastated laboratory behind him. "Of all the people on this ship, Dr. Solus, I never imagined you could ever lose all sense of collective responsibility."

"Apologies, Ms. Lawson." Mordin raised his hand. "Mess will be dealt with immediately. Are we nearing Nepyma yet?"

"We will arrive in the planet's orbit in around an hour. I'll have Goldstein and Hawthorne take Chambers to the infirmary."

"Very well," Mordin replied, thankful that his little episode of ineptitude was being overlooked. "Do you require anything from me?" He turned around and picked up an unopened bottle of batarian whiskey from the floor.

Miranda sighed and seized the bottle from his hand. "Yes. Sober up."

* * *

Joker relaxed in his chair in the Normandy's cockpit, listening to some Metallica songs. He raised his arms, moving them in such a manner if he were playing an electric guitar. He didn't know how to play an electric guitar, or any instrument, for that matter, but it felt good pretending to do so.

Miranda was approaching the cockpit. She detested the genre of music that Joker was listening to. It was excessively loud and it grated her ears, giving her a mild headache as she walked towards the Normandy's helmsman. "Joker. I presume everything is fine up here?" she asked loudly, in an attempt to make herself heard over the music.

"Nothing has tried to kill us yet, so yeah, I'd say it's damn fine up here." Joker pressed a button on the pilot's console, which muted the music. "For the moment," he added. Joker turned around and saw a bottle of batarian whiskey in Miranda's hands. "Hey, is that batarian whiskey? Can I have some?"

"No, Joker. We didn't need a drunk salarian on board, and we certainly don't need a drunk helmsman now, either."

Joker's eyes widened. "Whoh, are you saying that that belonged to Mordin? That guy drinks?"

"Joker, focus on the task at hand. Whether Dr. Solus drinks or not should not concern you."

"Yeah, well... you know how fast news spreads on this ship, right? And plus, EDI has the helm at the moment..."

Miranda gave him a stern look.

Joker turned away, getting the message. "Alright, Ms. Lawson. I'm getting back to my duties right now, see? I'm even disengaging the autopilot as we speak."

Miranda sighed. "Joker, just be ready when we reach Nepyma," she snapped. "I'm counting on your much-vaunted piloting skills once we are there."

"I won't fail you," Joker shot back. "Since when has Flight Lieutenant Jeffrey Moreau ever let you down? Or anybody, for that matter?" he asked pompously. "If I wasn't in the this cockpit all the time, we would have died three times already."

* * *

Shepard, Garrus and Tali took the elevator to the hanger deck, which was the lowest level on the Normandy. It was here, within her underbelly, where the Kodiak was stored.

Patel, one of the Normandy's crewmembers, was standing by near the Kodiak. She saluted Shepard. Shepard responded likewise.

"Commander!" she greeted. "The Kodiak is ready to go. Operative Lawson sent me here so that I may act as your pilot. Come on." Motioning to Shepard and his comrades towards the door of the Kodiak, Patel opened it and seated herself by the pilot's console. Shepard, Garrus, and Tali all piled into the passenger seats in the back.

Garrus looked at Shepard. "Shepard, I don't feel so comfortable going all the way to Illium in open space on this thing. Don't they call it the 'three-million credit coffin'?"

Shepard sighed. "I escaped a Cerberus lab on this thing. Trust me, it's fine."

"Well, try telling me that when we start suffocating out in open space," the turian replied cynically.

Patel started the Kodiak's engine. The cargo bay door opened, and the Kodiak sped away from the Normandy, and onwards towards Illium.

* * *

Astoria continued driving the APC towards the edge of Minerra Incognita. She did not know whether those insect-like creatures were pursuing her, but it would be far safer to assume that they still were. The APC's engine groaned as the needle on the dashboard pushed fifty kilometers an hour.

The edge of the colony came into view. Astoria saw a number of asari commandos were taking positions behind hastily organized sandbags and hastily dug trenches. Others were setting up impromtu machine-gun nests on the balconies of buildings. She breathed a sigh of relief. Some of her fellow soldiers did survive the attack on the base. She even recognized her sergeant, who was barking orders to a group of armed quarian miners.

Astoria stopped the APC in the middle of the street and climbed out of the driver's hatch to greet her sergeant. "Sergeant! I didn't know you... I thought you died!"

Her sergeant turned around, flashing Astoria a grin. "A number of us managed to escape. Glad to see you did, too. I wouldn't say that it was easy, but I am glad we keep so many of the vehicles outside the base, if you know what I mean."

"I know," Astoria said, looking at the APC she had commandeered – and had just abandoned. The passengers she was carrying were disembarking. "So what's the situation?"

"Well, around fifty of us managed to escape, and well, since the base was completely destroyed, we decided to make our stand here. Given that I hold the highest rank out of all the survivors, I am in charge. Luckily, we found an armory here, so some of the quarian miners should be able to help us out," the sergeant said, pointing to a group of armed quarians nearby.

"Have you managed to restore communications yet?" Astoria inquired.

"No... I couldn't contact the fleet stationed here, nor could I get through to anybody. I assume communications are still down. But, the quarians here are working on it," the sergeant assured.

"Sergeant!" one of the asari commandos yelled in the distance. "They're coming!"

The sergeant pushed Astoria aside to get a better view of the incoming enemy. "Everyone!" she barked. "To your stations! T'Gra, get a rifle and jump into one of the trenches!"

Astoria did as she was told, retrieving her rifle from the APC and assuming a place in the first trench. A few quarians were kneeling besides her left, rifles raised at the incoming horde. To her right, two of her fellow comrades were manning a machine-gun. The gunner appeared ready to depress the trigger...

Astoria's radio crackled. It was her sergeant.

"Don't fire until they get too close. We don't have too many heatsinks, and it's likely that they will push us back. If that happens, we pull back towards the center of the colony and await reinforcements." There was a brief pause. "Brace yourselves! This will be ugly."

Her sergeant was right. This was going to get ugly...

Peering through the scope on her assault rifle, the laser rangefinder on it told Astoria that the enemy was close enough.

Aiming for the head, she squeezed the trigger.

**A/N: Finally, after eight chapters, the story is starting to get action packed. I admit, I am not the best storyteller out there, but I am trying. Re-reading some of the previous chapters of my story tell me that some characters (like Legion) aren't exactly getting the facetime that they need. Rest assured, Legion will be playing a significant role later. **

**Furthermore, I do admit that the pacing of this story was terrible. I have spent far too long on long, drawn out, meaningless conversations and scenes that do not really drive the story forward. But, I wrote those scenes primarily because I didn't know where the story was going (and I still don't really know where the story is going). **

**Also, school is starting soon, so I am not quite sure when the next chapter will be released. Again, thank you for reading, and if possible, please review!**


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